The Fairy's Proposition
by Maskeladden
Summary: Emma and Regina are forced to get married in order to save Henry as I attempt to write the rest of the series. Takes place after 2.22 And Straight On 'til Morning. Eventual Swanqueen.
1. The Fairy's Proposition

3.01: The Fairy's Proposition

Clear skies and high hopes were suddenly dashed by rain—tons of it pelting the ship and its crew. Lightning overhead dancing eerily close to the masts illuminated the agitated faces of the ship's inhabitants. Emma scrambled to find her footing while the ship tilted perilously upward as it crested a wave. Looking around her, she saw that the portal they had sailed through had brought them right into a storm.

"Fire!" Charming yelled. Emma looked up and sure enough, one of the masts had been struck by lightning. She could hear Hook yelling instructions, but was unable to understand them over the roar of the storm.

"Help me!" Regina was dangling over the edge of the ship, prevented from falling only by a bent floorboard that her hands were grasping. The board suddenly snapped and Regina fell down to the water below as Emma watched helplessly. Knowing that Henry would never forgive her if she let Regina die not five minutes after she started on a journey to rescue him, Emma grabbed a board of wood that had been ripped up by the storm and jumped into the ocean after Regina, hoping that the board would be able to keep both of them afloat.

Cold water slammed into her and knocked the breath from her body. Once she made sure that the board could support her weight, Emma scanned the ocean for any sign of Regina. Unfortunately, the roiling waves prevented her from maintaining a direct line of sight over a few feet. Undeterred, Emma kept one hand on the board as she submerged the rest of her body underwater and opened her eyes. She was surrounded by endless inky darkness. Swiveling her head around, Emma suddenly caught sight of a dull red splotch moving gently downward through the murkiness. Swimming toward it, Emma saw that the red was from where Regina's sweater peeked out from under her coat. Trusting that she would be able to find the board again, Emma let go and swam down to the unconscious brunette. Then she wrapped her arms around Regina's waist so that she was pressed up against her back and started swimming toward the surface.

Emma's head broke the surface of the water just in time to be nearly run over by a boat—a boat occupied by a shaggy dog and a man with dark hair and bright blue eyes.

"Give me your hand!" he called to Emma.

Emma shook her head and tried to indicate that her hands and arms were already in use. If she freed even one hand from Regina to extend to the stranger, the unconscious woman would swiftly sink down to her death. Fortunately for both of them, the waves pushed the boat closer to Emma and the stranger was able to grab Regina by the collar of her coat and pull her into the boat before reaching again for Emma.

"My friends!" Emma yelled once she was safely in the boat as she watched the _Jolly Roger _flounder in the wrath of the storm. "They're still four people on that ship!"

"I cannot go back for your friends. They will have to wait until the storm starts to die down so I can find them."

Several protests came to Emma's mind, but she knew that as long as the _Jolly Roger _remained right-side up, her comrades were probably safer in the ferocious storm onboard the ship than they would be in the tiny boat. Then she turned to look behind her at the stranger and to her astonishment saw that he was rowing them toward a second ship.

"Where are you taking us?"

"You will be safe with us."

Regina groaned and opened her eyes. "What...what happened?"  
Emma put an arm under her upper back and helped her sit up. Regina gave Emma a strange look and moved away slightly.

"You fell into the water, I tried rescuing you, and this man ended up rescuing both of us," Emma tried to explain.

"_You_ tried rescuing me, Miss Swan?" Regina asked incredulously.

"Yeah, well, don't make me regret it."

The two women ignored each other for the rest of their jaunt toward the stranger's ship.

**In the past **

Regina sighed miserably as the merchant held up brooch after brooch.

"_What_ are you thinking? That one will weigh her down!"

"Ah, then perhaps the silver and sunstone—"

"No! _Nothing_ yellow! Regina, I think we should send for a different merchant."

"Ah, Madame! You have not seen all yet!"

Regina and her coldblooded lady-in-waiting watched as the merchant quickly rifled through his satchels; Wilma with guile and cool distain evident in her eyes, and Regina with lifeless despair. The merchant produced some before-unseen jewelry from a hidden pocket in a satchel as if by magic, and Wilma pawed through it with satisfaction, finally picking out a few pieces and announcing that they would do.

Once the merchant had hurriedly scuttled from the room, Wilma turned to Regina and said "Now that that ordeal is over, I thought we could go for a carriage ride and survey the land that is to soon be yours."

"But King Leopold wants to have tea with me in fifteen minutes."

Wilma huffed impatiently. "Very well. I suppose you should get used to a man controlling you. Enjoy...your tea." The lady-in-waiting grinned lecherously at her mistress.

Regina shivered as she watched Wilma flounce out of the room. She appeared to have been assigned to Regina shortly after she had arrived at the palace as a companion, but Regina knew that Wilma had actually been commissioned by Cora to spy on her for any signs of disobedience. Regina had expected that Wilma would have toned down her vindictive nature once Cora was gone, but if anything it had only seemed to increase—Wilma seemed even more determined to carry out Cora's controlling demands.

Regina lingered in the room a good five minutes after her lady-in-waiting left before hurrying out and running down the corridor. After two left turns down dank hallways and a mistaken turn down the passageway of ancient naked statues (Leopold had told her that he really appreciated Greco-Enchanted Forestan artwork), she finally found her way to the small alcove where she had last met the servant-girl. The future-queen didn't have to wait for long; Vanessa soon scurried into the room and leaned against the wall, trying to regain her breath.

"Are you all right?" Regina asked with concern.

"Yes milady," the girl wheezed. "Cook made me stay late to wash extra dishes, and then I had to dash up here to meet you in time."

Regina frowned. "There was no need for you to go at such a pace. I would have been fine waiting a few extra minutes."

"I just did not want to keep the possible future queen waiting—"

"Speaking of which," Regina interrupted, "You do have a solution to that future-queen problem ready to present to me now, right?"

"Yes milady. I finally found time to sneak out of the castle and speak to my grandmother, and after a day of meditation and peering into her crystal ball, and then another day of mixing powerful ingredients in her cauldron, she gave me this to give to you." Vanessa held out a small leather bag.

Regina looked at it dubiously. "What is it?"

"Magic, powerful magic, milady.

"Yes, I had already surmised that. What exactly will it do?"

"It will turn you invisible—though only long enough for you to escape the country!" Vanessa quickly added after seeing the look on her mistress's face.

Regina groaned with frustration. "That's not enough. As you well know, the king has powerful magicians at his disposal. When he discovers I am missing, invisibility alone will not be enough to stop him from finding me and keeping me locked in the castle forever."

"I know. That is why my grandmother also gave me this." The servant-girl took from her pocket a flask.

"And what 'powerful magic' is in that, dare I ask?"

"This, milady, is for me to drink. All I need to do is drink it and I will take on your appearance to marry the king."

"What?! When you told me that you could help me, you never said anything about marrying the king yourself!"

"It's the only way," Vanessa pleaded. "And it's only temporary. It will give you enough time to escape the king's lands. By the time I change back to myself, no one will know where you have gone or where to look for you."

Regina glared stonily at Vanessa. "I do not like this arrangement very much. But I am running out of ideas to escape my impending marriage. Very well, I accept. What does your grandmother want in exchange?"

Vanessa pointed to Regina's chest. "Your necklace."

"My necklace? But surely magic can buy her all the jewelry she wants."

"But not jewelry such as that someone like you has worn. She likes collecting jewelry, especially necklaces, from people that she believes are important in this world. I suppose it probably makes her feel somewhat important herself."

Regina suppressed a smirk at the mention that she was important. And who knew—Vanessa did claim that her grandmother was a seer, so perhaps she one day would be important. And without further thought, she unclasped the necklace and handed it to the servant.

**Present Day**

Emma paced the deck of the ship _Infinity_ restlessly. The stranger and his dog had paddled back to the _Jolly Roger_ to see if any more of her friends had fallen into the water. The storm was starting to abate, and Emma was frantically hoping that everybody was fine. She didn't know what she would do if Mr. Gold, Hook, and her parents were gone. Emma had only really acknowledged that David and Mary Margaret were her father and mother to them, and to lose them now...

"Miss Swan, please stop that infernal clomping around at once!"

Emma stopped and glared at Regina. She was wrapped in blankets and consorting with several passengers and sailors of the ship, one of which was an old man who had first wasted no time in telling the two women that it hadn't been his idea to stop and rescue them and therefore delay the _Infinity's_ passage.

"Emma! Emma! Can you hear me?!" It was David's voice. Emma rushed to the side of the ship, where she could see her four allies sitting in the stranger's boat. Mary Margaret and David looked hopeful, Mr. Gold looked slightly amused, and Hook was looking back at his ship glumly.

Emma waited while everybody boarded the _Infinity_ before running to Mary Margaret and David and throwing her arms around them. "I was so worried! I thought I was going to lose you!"

"Yeah, I guess we learned to never trust a pirate on his ship."

Hook glared at David. "If I had my old crew with me instead of you useless fools, we would have gotten through that storm just fine. And now look at my ship! Wrecked!"

Emma rolled her eyes. "Rather than arguing about whose fault it was, we should start thinking about how to find—"

"A new ship!" Regina hastily interrupted while giving Emma a look that said 'We don't know if we can trust these people.'

"Oh, well I cannot help you with that," said the dark-haired man who had rescued them. "As a matter of fact, we are new to these lands. My crew and I journeyed here in search of a certain woman, a beautiful woman with dark hair and violet eyes. My name is Eric, by the way."

"Prince Eric?" Emma asked while memories of too-many-Disney-movies-watched-while-in-the-foster -system suddenly went through her mind.

Eric puffed his chest out. "You've heard of me?"

Emma hesitated. "Well, is the woman you are looking for by any chance a mermaid?"

Everyone looked at Emma as if she had suddenly sprouted radishes out of her ears.

"A mermaid?" the old man asked. "Oh dear me, and I thought that young folk from our world had some odd ideas."

"Grimsby, be polite to our guests," Eric rebuked the old man. "As we are new to their world, we should respect their ideas and customs, even if they involve mystical sea-creatures that simply do not exist."

Hearing that they had also journeyed there from another world, Emma thought that it might be safe to confide in them some of the truth. "Actually, we are not from here either. And we are also looking for someone. Perhaps we can help each other out."

At the mention of aiding each other, Hook and Grimsby simultaneously looked up at the sky as if asking for divine patience.

"Emma, may I have a word, please?" Hook roughly grabbed Emma by the arm and pulled her aside. "Look, we don't know who these people are except that they are not from here, and I don't think that is a very good reason to suddenly trust them."

"But we don't know that we can't trust them," Emma retorted, "And I think we need all the help we can get to get Henry back quickly." Hook opened his mouth to argue back, but before he could say anything, Emma had already turned back to the crew. Everybody was staring at Emma and Hook with curiosity, except for Mr. Gold, who was wandering around the deck of the ship with a faint smile on his face.

"Very well, Prince Eric," Emma exclaimed, "Where do you think we should sail first?"

Eric looked at Emma with a sheepish look. "Well, first we need to find land so we can restock on supplies."

Hook rolled his lined-eyes and said something that Emma couldn't quite catch but sounded like it would have been censored out of the show anyway.

**In the past**

Regina finished packing everything that she absolutely could not live without in a knapsack before slinging it over her shoulder and leaving her quarters for the last time. The sliver of a moon shone dimly through narrow windows lining the hallway that she briskly tiptoed through on her way to the castle grounds. Once outside, she stayed in the shadows as she headed in the direction of an old willow tree—the designated meeting place.

As she walked, discordant thoughts went through Regina's mind. Part of her was excited to start a completely new life away from Leopold, Snow White, and memories of Daniel. But the more hesitant side of her was slightly scared of running away from all she had ever known.

"There you are. I was afraid you had decided not to go through with it, milady."

Regina jumped slightly as Vanessa's voice pierced the still night air. It somehow sounded more confident and commanding than Regina would have believed the timid little servant-girl capable of.

"Your fears are for nothing. I have to go through with this—I have no life left for me here."

In the dull moonlight, it was hard to see Vanessa as she held her flask out to Regina. "All this needs is a few of your hairs, and then I drink it and turn into you."

Regina scrunched her nose in disgust. "You're really going to drink something that has my hair in it? What kind of a magic potion is that?"

Vanessa shrugged. "Grandmother told me that the recipe came from another world—one without happy endings. So maybe that explains why there needs to be hair in the potion. Anyway, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get you out of the country to safety."

Something about the brusque tone of the servant-girls voice made Regina suddenly pause and look at her suspiciously. "Why is it so important to you that I escape the country?"

"Because, milady, in the brief time that I've known you, I've come to care for you and your happiness. You've treated me with such kindness even though I'm a lowly servant, and the least I can do for you is see that you don't have to marry someone if you don't want to." Vanessa said all this as if listing it off from memory, and if Regina hadn't been in such a hurry to flee, she probably would have noticed that something seemed very wrong. As it was, she quickly ripped a couple of hairs out of her head and handed them to her confidante. Vanessa unstopped the flask, dropped the hairs in, and drank from it. Regina watched anxiously as Vanessa started changing right in front of her. Her skin bubbled and distorted before transitioning to the smooth, flawless skin that Regina was so familiar with, while her eyes darkened from violet to brown and her hair changed from lanky and snarled to sleek and long. Within a few minutes, Regina was looking at her mirror image.

"And now," said Vanessa while happily examining her hands, "We switch clothes, you turn invisible, and off you go."

The two women quickly exchanged clothes, and then Regina opened the leather bag of invisibility. "What do I do?"

"Just sprinkle the bag over your head."

Regina diffidently did as she was told, and something that resembled dried cloves fell over her body. She didn't feel any different once that was done, but Vanessa was looking at her as if she could see right through her.

"Oh good, both my grandmother's spells worked. And this is where we say goodbye, milady."

"Just to be clear, this invisibility spell will work—"

"—On all means of sensing, not just sight. You have nothing to worry about."

Reassured, Regina thanked the servant and hurried off. Once she arrived at where the guards were guarding the entrance way, she barely breathed as she edged around them, but it seemed that Vanessa knew what she was talking about when she had said that nothing would be able to sense her.

Finally, she got to the outer boundary of the castle's land and took off at a run. Suddenly, a tree root seemed to reach out and snag her foot. Regina fell to the ground with a crash.

"Be a little quieter, dearie. A fellow's trying to get some rest."

**Present day**

They anchored next to an island covered in tropical trees and sandy beaches. Emma wandered by the shore with Mary Margaret and David while they waited for the sailors to stock up on water and food.

"Where do you think Tamara and Greg took Henry?" Emma asked her parents.

"I don't know but they must be close by," David said reassuringly. "We entered Neverland from a location in Storybrooke that was close to where they left Storybrooke."

"Which means nil," said Mr. Gold as he limped over to where the trio was standing. "Time and space don't always operate rationally when using magical portals, especially when the portals are formed by beans."

"Well, do you have any suggestions then?" David said roughly. He was tired of the way Mr. Gold always one upped everything he did or said; it made him feel emasculated.

"We must keep sailing. I have a feeling that Henry is not on this island, and the sooner we leave from here, the sooner we can find Henry."

"Why do _you _want to find Henry so badly?" Regina had crept up behind them. "I thought you didn't care for anything other than yourself and that harlot."

Mr. Gold's face colored with suppressed rage. "It's only thanks to you and the false memories that I lost out on precious time with Belle, and Henry is my grandson, so of course I want to find him."

Something in the tone of Mr. Gold's voice and the way his eyes kept shifting as he spoke made Emma pause. She walked right up to him and peered into his face. "My lie detector is going off. I have a feeling that you are not telling us the complete truth about why you want to find Henry."

Mary Margaret looked embarrassed. "Emma, please," she whispered into her daughter's ear. "What did we say about discussing your superpower in front of other people?"

Emma frowned. "I just don't trust him. I mean, he finds out that Henry is his grandson and doesn't really act any different toward him. And now, all of a sudden, he wants to help?"

Hook then came strolling over. "Sorry to crash the party, but His Majesty Prince Eric says that we are going to spend the night on the island. Something about repairs needed to be done on his ship."

"Repairs?" Regina asked quizzically.

"Aye. He claims that while we were anchored next to shore getting supplies, something boarded the ship and drilled some holes in it." Hook smirked. "He just doesn't want to admit that he didn't notice damage from the storm right after it happened."

Mr. Gold looked slightly worried. "But, we can still sleep on the ship during the night?"

Hook chuckled. "Unless you can sleep through loud hammering noises, you're going to be bunking right on this island. Don't worry, I'm sure the crew will allow you to bring a feather mattress out," he said mockingly.

"But, the repairs will be done soon, right?" Emma asked worriedly. She could see that Regina looked just as distraught about being further delayed on the island.

"Oh sure! Someday!" Hook raised his arms as he said this, and Emma saw that in each hand he was holding a bottle.

"Is that beer?" David asked in a hopeful voice.

"David!" Mary Margaret elbowed her husband and looked at him disapprovingly.

"Oh, right." David put on his best leader's voice. "We are going to get through this and find Henry. But we have no other choice right now except to make a camp for the night."

Emma went back to the ship with the others to gather food, blankets, and other provisions for their night on the island. Hook had already wandered off somewhere into the forest, and Regina stayed on the shore and watched them row back and forth. Although she was tempted not to get anything for Regina, Emma knew that would just mean more work for some poor soul later, so she ended up packing for her in the same manner that she packed for herself.

The small group made their camp in a clearing in the woods further inland. Hook eventually stumbled over to them after they had finished setting up and went to sleep in a pile of unsuccessfully trying to start a fire with the moist wood that they found, the group settled on eating a few pieces of dried fruit that they had brought with them from the _Infinity_. Then Mary Margaret distributed the rest of the blankets among everyone and they bedded down for the night—Emma near Mary Margaret and David, while Regina, Hook, and Mr. Gold all tried to get as far away from everyone else as possible.

After what felt like only a few minutes, Emma was awoken by a hand shaking her shoulder. It was Regina.

**In the past**

"It's you!" Regina gasped as she tried to rapidly get to her feet.

"I should feel the same way about seeing you crashing around out here," Rumplestiltskin cackled. "Aren't you supposed to be keeping the king company right now? Or is it traditional for new queens to run around the countryside at night scaring all the poor animals away?"

"Wait...you can see me?"

"Of course I can see you. That dismal masking spell might fool a few dimwitted peasants, but anybody with any real power can see right through it."

Regina frowned. Something about this situation seemed like a set-up. "Were you waiting for me here?"

"Today I had a vision that you would try to escape tonight, and that if you did somehow manage against enormous odds to leave the country, there would be disastrous consequences for the kingdom. But what I am most curious about is why I sense you are not married already? When I last talked to you, you were just about to marry the king."

Regina shuddered as memories of their last meeting went through her; he had helped her shove her mother through a looking-glass. "The king postponed the wedding until next week; he said he needed more time to get used to the idea of another woman taking his wife's place. He...he doesn't love me."

Rumplestiltskin looked at her oddly as she said that. "I would think that you would be indifferent to whether he loved you or not, seeing as you're hell-bent on running away either way."

Regina sniffled. "It's just that it makes me feel...like a figurehead. Like he values my shell, but not anything that's inside."

Rumplestiltskin suddenly shook his head back and forth, as if he couldn't believe that he had just had a conversation about emotions. "Anyway, what I actually am here for is that I want to make a deal with you."

"A deal?" Regina asked warily.

"Yes, a deal. Here is how it will work. You turn around and go back to marry precious Leopold, and in return, you get...happiness and true love."

Regina threw back her head and laughed callously. "True love? You think I'm going to find true love with the king?"

"Oh no. I didn't say you would find true love with the king, dearie. But I can see that there are two paths before you right now—one leads to marrying the king this week and eventually finding love. But the other path, well, that leads to probable destruction for the kingdom. And I see no certainty of true love for you down that path either."

The brunette looked the imp squarely in the eye. "Do you mean it is certain that I will eventually find happiness and true love if I marry the king?"

For the first time that evening, Rumplestiltskin looked serious. "Yes. I can't tell you when it will happen, or what person you will fall in love with. I can just see that it will be there."

Regina looked torn. "I can't just go back to that life of imprisonment."

"You can't very well go on, either. The king will send his best sorcerers after you, and like I said, that masking spell isn't fooling anybody."

"But the woman who gave it to me said—"

"—I happen to know that the woman who gave it to you is a weak and conniving little witch who makes her money by deceiving people weaker than her...like you."

Regina's jaw dropped, aghast. "What? You mean Vanessa—"

"—One of her many identities, no doubt—"

"—That pathetic little servant girl was actually a witch who tried to deceive me into..." the truth dawned on her..."giving her my kingdom!"

"She didn't try to deceive you, she _did_ deceive you."

Regina bristled. "How can you say that? I was desperate and not thinking clearly. But now that I know the truth, I can stop her."

"That's the spirit, dearie. Show her the magic that I showed you. I know that you have more potential for magic inside of you."

Regina's mind was suddenly so full of thoughts of revenge that she didn't listen to another word that the imp said, choosing instead to turn around and run back to the castle.

**In the present**

"Whadya want?" Emma asked groggily. The snores of her comrades around her informed Emma that it was late into the night.

Regina brought her finger up to her lips in a shushing gesture, and then she pointed over to the edge of the clearing where a small light floated waveringly in the still night air. "I...I had a dream that someone was saying your name, as if they wanted you to come to them," the brunette said hesitantly. "Then the voice was telling me to wake up, I saw that light, and I had a feeling that it had something to do with Henry."

Emma carefully got to her feet and walked over to where the light was bobbing up and down. When she got closer, she saw that the light was actually a tiny winged woman holding a miniature lantern in front of her. The creature moved slowly backwards into the forest when she saw that Emma was approaching.

"What do we do?" Emma whispered to Regina.

"I think it wants us to follow it," replied Regina, surprised that Emma had said 'we' and was asking for her advice rather than immediately waking the Charmings.

As she followed the unearthly glow, Emma felt strangely calm, as if she was still asleep and acting out a dream. The two women followed the light deeper and deeper into the forest until they reached an ancient willow tree taller than any other tree nearby. The tree was draped in lights like a Christmas tree, and a tiny set of stairs spiraled up and around it.

"What is this?" Emma wondered aloud.

"You are here for Henry." A high-pitched voice rent the night, startling Emma and Regina. The dream-state that she had been in just moments before was starting to drain away, leaving Emma with the thought that she had made a mistake in following a strange light into the woods with just Regina for company.

"Do you have him?" Regina asked, a note of excitement mixed with hysteria evident in her voice.

A yellow light descended out from the top of the staircase and gently floated over to them. Emma saw that it was a second winged woman, one in a short green dress.

"I have only news of Henry, but it is important news—news that must be acted on soon or he may be lost forever."

"Is he in danger?! Tell us!" Emma longed to do something immediately to help her son, but was instead reduced to stomping the ground with her foot.

The fairy closed her eyes with a look of concentration on her face. "He is in grave danger. However, there is a chance he can be saved, but you must travel to another world to rescue him."

"All right, where is the portal?" Regina asked, already ready to save her son.

The fairy opened her eyes and looked at Regina in annoyance. "Did I say you? Only the woman who gave birth to Henry can rescue him."

Emma felt bad about the hurt look on Regina's face, but she was willing to do whatever it took to get Henry back. "I will go, and if he really is in grave danger, then I will go right now."

The fairy pointed at a hollow on the great tree. "Take out what is in there."

Emma reached her hand inside the tree and pulled out what looked like a tiny pearl threaded on a leather cord. "What is this?"

"That is a magical artifact that you will need to cross over. However, unless you plan on never coming back, you will need someone magical to anchor you to this world. I can sense that there are two other people on this island that have magical powers. You must bind to one of them, and then cross over." The fairy suddenly started to fade away. "My time here is almost up. Just remember to be back before the stroke of midnight on the third day!"

"Wait!" Emma called desperately after her as she seemed to flicker in and out of existence, "What do I do when I get there? And how do I bind to someone?"

"Just call on Tinker Bell if you need assistance!" the fairy shouted before she was gone for good.

Emma stared blankly after Tinker Bell, feeling more confused and helpless as ever. However, Regina, she noticed, was as white as a sheet. "What did you get out of that that I missed?" Emma asked her.

"We must go back to the ship. Now." Regina commanded.

"But I need to rescue Henry!" Emma shouted at her.

"You heard what the fairy said. If you want to return with Henry, you must be anchored to someone." Regina pronounced the word 'anchored' as if it were a particularly foul word.

Emma peppered her with questions the entire way back, but Regina refused to answer any of them. Finally, Emma gave up, figuring that Regina knew more about magic than she did and so probably knew what Tinker Bell was talking about. Hues of gold and peach were already streaking the sky by the time the two arrived back at the camp. Their four comrades were still sleeping, but the two women were in such a hurry that they quickly wakened everybody and said that they had to get back to the ship.

"Emma, what's going on?" Mary Margaret asked.

"We've found a way to rescue Henry, but we must act now!" Even if Emma completely understood what was happening, she would not have dared explain it all to her mother for fear of losing too much time.

They rowed back amidst the sound of heavy pounding. As soon as they boarded the ship, Regina ran off while yelling "We need to see the captain! Now!"

Emma watched as Regina held a hurried discussion with Prince Eric, until he left and came back with an old man in white robes and a tall hat. She shot a glance at her Storybrooke companions and noticed they looked as confused as she felt with the exception of Mr. Gold. His face held newfound comprehension, as if he was starting to understand Regina's mysterious actions.

Emma was suddenly whisked away from the group by Regina and pulled into a small room. She then left and came immediately back with Mr. Gold and the man in white robes.

"Regina, what's going on? You must tell me how this will help us get Henry back!" Emma demanded insistently.

But Regina was too busy whispering with Mr. Gold. He looked intrigued by whatever the brunette was saying to him, and he even glanced at Emma once with a smirk. Emma waited exasperatedly until the two finally finished their discussion and came over to stand by Emma. The man in white robes followed, his knobby knees shuffling under his robes as he slowly made his way over to them.

"Ms. Swan," Mr. Gold said slowly, "I have been informed that in order to rescue Henry you must be magically bound to someone with magic, and because Ms. Mills insists that I am not to be trusted with my grandson's life, I will instead be performing the magical aspect of the ceremony."

"Ceremony? What ceremony?" Emma questioned suspiciously.

"And this man will be performing the legal aspect of the ceremony," Mr. Gold announced, ignoring Emma's question while gesturing to the man in white robes. "You may begin, Father."

**In the past**

Once Regina got back to the castle, she walked right past the guards that she had before taken such pains to sneak around while ignoring their startled stares and exclamations of surprise about seeing her outside the castle walls. She allowed herself to smirk slightly, pleased with the knowledge that even though the masking spell did not really work, she had still had the ability to avoid the sight of the incompetent guards when leaving the castle. Then she marched to the king's chamber. She had a feeling that Vanessa wouldn't delay marrying the king in case something got in the way. Something such as Regina deciding to return.

Sure enough, she found King Leopold and Vanessa-in-Regina's-form clasping hands in front of a priest and the king's head-sorcerer. The sight of the head-sorcerer stopped Regina cold in her tracks with surprise. She knew from her schooling that having a magical-being participate in a marriage ceremony meant that the couple planned to be magically bonded as well as the traditional marriage bond, something which rarely happened.

Leopold, the priest, and the sorcerer all looked extremely surprised at witnessing a second Regina enter the chamber. Pseudo-Regina, the real one was pleased to note, looked angry and scared at seeing her there. This gave her hope that the marriage had not happened yet.

_What do I do? _she thought to herself.

_Just concentrate your rage at her, _Rumplestiltskin's voice said inside her head.

Regina was too wired with fury to wonder at how she could hear Rumplestiltskin's voice. Instead, she did just as he said. It was remarkably easy for her to let her emotions take over, and her magic seemed to thrive on emotions. Without thinking, she lifted her hand and a beam of golden light flew out and hit Vanessa in the chest. Vanessa seemed to disappear in a sudden onslaught of mist, and as her gown fluttered to the floor, a speckled bird flew up out of the mess and out the door.

"Oh, she's escaped!" Regina cried to no one in particular.

"Very good, dearie." Rumplestiltskin suddenly appeared in the room. "Still, I did boost your magic a great deal there, but you'll learn. Now, to take care of these nincompoops." He strolled over to the king, the priest, and the sorcerer, who still appeared to be frozen with shock, and waved his hands, making them suddenly fall asleep standing up. "There. That should make them forget this whole situation. Though really, if that was the king's best sorcerer, then I worry for the defense of the kingdom."

"What do I do now?" Regina asked, suddenly drained of all emotions.

"Well," the imp replied, "I suppose you go back to your room like a good little almost-queen. Your marriage isn't until next week, you know."

"I want to get married now."

Rumplestiltskin looked at her with surprise. "Marrying him earlier won't make your true love come to faster, you know."

"I know. I just don't want to be tempted to escape again. I want to get it over with."

"Well, if you're sure." Rumplestiltskin snapped his fingers in front of the priest's face. "Wakey wakey priesty. A marriage needs to happen." Then he looked at Regina carefully. "You don't want me to—"

"No," Regina said firmly, "A magical bond isn't necessary. Just a traditional marriage will do."

Rumplestiltskin gave Regina an inscrutable smile. "Very well. And now I will wake the king and reset his mind so this all makes sense to him." He did so. "And this is where I take my leave. Good luck to you, Regina."

Rumplestiltskin vanished. Regina took a few deep breaths and then walked over to the king and the priest, prepared to meet whatever fate this path had in store for her.

**Present day**

Mary Margaret stood looking over the railing of the ship, knowing that every extra minute they stayed there was a minute lost in the search for Henry. Moments before, Mr. Gold and Regina had taken Emma from her, only pausing long enough to tell her that they needed to do something that involved magic. Next to her, David practiced with his sword to pass the time. She knew that her husband felt even more restless than she did, and starting their adventure only to have their ship immediately wrecked had really frustrated him.

The door to the room that Emma had gone into opened, and Regina and Mr. Gold walked out. Regina looked sickly pale, while Mr. Gold was smiling as if he had just had the pleasure of foreclosing the inhabitation of the Storybrooke nuns.

"What's wrong?" Mary Margaret asked anxiously, "Where's Emma?"

The magical pair looked at each other. When Regina gave no answer, Mr. Gold said "Ms. Swan has gone on a little trip. When she gets back, I'm sure she'll have Henry with her, and then we can all go home."

"Gone on a little trip?! She was locked in that cabin with you! What did you do to her?!"

Mr. Gold was saved from answering by Eric, who swaggered over to them with a bottle of champagne. "I thought we should celebrate the newlyweds! Who's with me?!" He faltered at the looks of horror on Regina's, Mary Margaret's, and David's face.

"Married?!" Mary Margaret shrieked, "Mr. Gold married Regina?!"

"Marry Regina? Certainly not. I have no intention of marrying anyone here," Mr. Gold stated calmly.

"Then who got marr—Omigosh! Did Emma marry...did she marry..." Mary Margaret faltered, unable to say the name of her hated ex-stepmother.

"Yep!" Mr. Gold giggled gleefully.

Regina slowly swayed as if she was about to faint. "I don't know what I was thinking. I was so desperate to rescue Henry that I acted impulsively, and now I'm stuck forever...with Emma."

"They had to be married magically as well as legally," Mr. Gold explained to Emma's parents. "That was the only way that Emma could be anchored to this world."

"Anchored to this world? Where did she go?" David asked with concern.

Mr. Gold shrugged. "I guess she'll tell us when she gets back."

* * *

Darkness hung over the strange and magical land like an oppressive thunderstorm cloud. But although the murky gloom made it difficult to maneuver the river, the strangers would not stop and rest, for they were close to their destination. Their captive slept in a drugged state in the bottom of the canoe, bound, gagged, and unaware of his surroundings. Unknown to his kidnappers, spying on them from under the water were a pair of eels, ready to report back to their mistress that the two fools she had duped really were bringing her prey straight to her.


	2. Journey On

3.02: Journey On

**Neverland**

With one last strike of the hammer, the repairs on the ship _Infinity _were done and Prince Eric started ordering his crew to hoist the anchor and prepare to sail.

"Can we please stay a little longer?" Mary Margaret begged. "If we move the ship, I don't know if Emma will be able to get back to us again."

Eric was in a grumpy mood from listening to Mary Margaret worry about Emma all day. He still didn't quite understand how she had disappeared from one of his ship's cabins, and even with David trying to explain to him that they were in a magical land, he also wasn't sure if he believed any of it. "I am sorry, but the damage to the ship cost us enough time. If we delay any longer I may never see my lady again."

Just then one of the servants walked by with a tray of food, and as he was eager to escape Mary Margaret's clamoring, Eric hurriedly ran over to the servant and engaged her in conversation. "Carlotta, how is Regina feeling?"

"She says the headache is getting worse. I'm just bringing her some broth that Chef Louis made."

Ever since Emma left, Regina had been complaining of a headache. At first, Mary Margaret thought that it was just shock at suddenly being married to Emma, but the headache had steadily gotten worse, as if something was draining her energy. Now it was accompanied by a fever.

"Mr. Gold, if we sail away, will Emma be able to get back to the ship with Henry?" Mary Margaret whinely asked the older man.

He shrugged while avoiding Mary Margaret's eyes. "Like I said before, magic can be unpredictable."

"What kind of an answer is that? If there's any chance that she won't be able to find us, we should get off this ship right now and wait for her on the island!"

Suddenly, a blinding flash of light ripped through the air, delivering Emma right in front of her worried mother. She was alone.

Mary Margaret rushed at her daughter and caught her in an embrace. "Emma, are you all right?! Where's Henry?!"

At the sound of his wife's high-pitched use of his daughter's name, David came running over. "Emma! Thank goodness!"

Emma was shaking and crying hysterically as if there was someone in front of her that only she could see. "Henry! Not Henry! Please, I'll do anything!"

"Why isn't Henry with you? Is someone hurting him?" David demanded.

Emma shook her head with despair, unable to say anything. Carlotta bustled over with a wooden cup full of fresh water and forced Emma to drink out of it. Emma greedily drank its contents and seemed to calm down a little. That is, until Regina kicked the door of her cabin down and promenaded over to Emma. "Where's my son?! You said you would find him!" she hollered at the blonde.

"I thought you weren't feeling well," Hook flatly stated. He had been watching the proceedings from the side of the ship with little interest while wishing that he had less irksome companions.

"Regina, back off!" David grabbed her around her waist and held her back from walloping Emma.

"I—it's all slipping away! I can't remember!" Emma wailed.

"What do you mean you can't remember?! I frickin' married you so we could get Henry back! Are you saying I did all that for nothing?!" Regina seemed to be as hysterical as Emma. The two women glared at each other over David's shoulder as both tried to get their breath back.

"All right, everyone calm down," Mary Margaret ordered. "Mr. Gold, what do you think we should do?"

But Mr. Gold was staring at Emma in utter shock.

"Mr. Gold?" Mary Margaret repeated.

"Uh—I'm just happy that Emma got back before we sailed off. Or we might have never seen her again," Mr. Gold said lamely.

"Don't believe him," Regina said curtly. "He's surprised that Emma was able to make it back to this world at all, seeing as we don't have a matching magical artifact to bind Emma here."

"I thought that's why Emma was forced to marry you, so your magic could anchor her here," David asked in a confused manner.

"That's only half the spell, but I was so anxious to get Henry back that I forgot about the rest," Regina said regretfully. "The fairy gave Emma a magical transportation stone that she needed to cross over to the other world where Henry is. Magical artifacts such as that need strong connections such as blood or marriage to work. My guess is that because Emma gave birth to Henry, she was able to use the stone by holding it in her fist while thinking of Henry and also having a strong intent to travel to him. However, what I forgot about was that I would also need a matching stone to anchor Emma to this world; marriage alone would not be enough."

"But Henry doesn't have a stone, and Emma is still supposedly able to get to him," Mary Margaret reasoned. "So why does Regina need a stone for Emma to get to her?"

"The other world acts differently than Neverland," Mr. Gold said wearily. "In Neverland, the Enchanted Forest, Storybrooke, and most worlds, many different portals and pathways can lead into it, and as long as someone knows how to, they can freely move into that world and back again without someone anchoring them to their home-world. However, in my pursuit to know the secrets of the universe, I learned about other worlds, ones that are like a trap. Once a person travels to one, there is no getting back. The only loophole I know of is if someone else comes to retrieve them, such as Emma going to retrieve Henry, or through anchoring to a relative or someone magically bound to that person with a magical artifact, such as that stone. In this case, we needed both.

"You knew! You knew I wouldn't be able to get back here, didn't you," Emma said through gritted teeth."

"I suspected," Mr. Gold admitted honestly. "But somehow against all odds, you've made it back to us. However did you find us again?"

"I don't remember," Emma whispered despondently. "All my memories from the last three days are fuzzy, as if there is a veil over them."

"Last three days?" Eric interjected incredulously, "You've only been gone for a day!" He suddenly blushed, as if he was embarrassed to be caught eavesdropping, and retreated to the back of the ship.

"All I do remember is the clock starting to strike midnight on the third day, which is when Tinker Bell said I should be back. And...somehow Ashley was there."

"Ashley? That...tart from Storybrooke whose baby _you _stole from me?" Mr. Gold asked accusingly.

"Yeah, that's the one. I don't remember what she was doing there. I just remember her face."

"Look, I hate to crash the party here," Regina said darkly while grinding her teeth, "But we still haven't found Henry yet. I say we start sailing again and search for Tinker Bell."

"An excellent idea!" Eric broke in excitedly. "Grimsby, tell everyone to prepare to leave!"

**Storybrooke**

Belle sat in Mr. Gold's study with the manuscript that had the cloaking spell inscribed on it in front of her. As soon as Mr. Gold had left her, she had unfolded it and intended to activate the spell at once. However, it wasn't as easy as that; the spell seemed to be in a different language, which was why she had spent a day poring over old books of Mr. Gold's in an attempt to translate. Unfortunately, not much progress had been made as Belle had not yet found a language in any of the books that was an exact match.

Suddenly, the door started creaking as it slowly opened. Belle found herself holding her breath as she ducked down behind a pile of books and furtively peeked around them at the door. _Whoever could be coming in here? _she wondered. She watched as a hooded figure stealthily slipped into the study and went over to one of the bookcases before deftly throwing the hood of the cloak back. It was Ruby.

"Oh Ruby, you startled me! I thought you were an intruder," Belle said with relief.

At the sound of Belle's voice, Ruby jumped slightly, and then whirled around to face Belle and said hostilely "What are you doing here?!"

Belle giggled. "What are you so upset about? I'm just doing some research for Mr. Gold on this cloaking spell he gave me."

Ruby frowned. "Cloaking spell?"

"Yeah, he wants me to cloak the entire town of Storybrooke so nobody from the outside surrounding area can find it. Especially no one that wants to destroy magic. This way we'll be cut off and nobody will be able to leave or enter the town." Seeing the look on Ruby's face, Belle quickly added "It's not for forever. It's just until we're able to leave this place and go back to the Enchanted Forest. By the way, I haven't seen you around for a while. What's been going on?"

Ruby looked away shiftily. "Oh, nothing. I've just been feeling a little sick lately so I've stayed indoors. But I'm feeling better now."

Suddenly, Ashley ran into the room through the open door. "Oh good, I found you."

Bell threw down the manuscript in mock exasperation. "More visitors. How am I ever going to get this done?"

"Mother Superior told me that we need to elect a mayor soon, and of course I immediately thought of you, Belle. I know you were really close to Mr. Gold, and he practically owned this town."

Belle looked at Ashley in surprise. The previous day, she had arranged a town meeting where she told the citizens of Storybrooke that Mr. Gold, Mary Margaret, David, Regina, Emma, and Hook had all left to rescue Henry from evil. She had completely forgotten that Storybrooke would need to elect a new leader."

"You want me to be mayor?"

"I think that's an excellent idea!" Ruby said with excitement. Belle noticed that she suddenly seemed much happier and peppier than she had been just moments before. "Belle would make a great mayor! I'll start persuading people right away." And with that, Ruby raced out of the room.

"Ruby, wait!" Belle called after her. But Ruby was already gone. "I don't really want to be mayor," Belle confided to Ashley. "I prefer to work behind the scenes."

"Yeah I don't want to be mayor either," Ashley replied, "But Mother Superior wants me to."

Belle looked at Ashley in amused disbelief. "Please, Mother Superior wants _you _to be mayor."

"Well, you don't have to look so surprised at the idea. But yes, she came to me this morning and proposed the idea. She said that because I was married to a prince back in the Enchanted Forest I was a natural choice for the role."

"Well, what about your husband. He _was _that prince."

"Sean is too busy working to even think about being the mayor. And Mother Superior didn't suggest him; she just seemed fixated on the idea of me leading the town. Anyway, as soon as she finished talking to me, I immediately thought that perhaps you might want to be the mayor instead."

"I'll have to think about it, but right now the answer is shaping up to be no. Unless no one better volunteers, that is."

Ashley smiled sweetly at Belle. "If no one else does, I'm sure you'll make a great mayor. Well, I have to get back to Alexandra. See you later."

"See ya!" Belle called after her friend. Belle then tried to focus her attention back on translating the cloaking spell instructions, but her mind was elsewhere. She wondered if Ruby really had been feeling sick for the past couple of weeks, and if so, why she had just been sneaking into Mr. Gold's study. She also was curious about the reason that Mother Superior wanted Ashley to be mayor so badly.

**In the past**

Cinderella lay sprawled over a couch in her castle, sobbing. "He's gone forever, and it's all my fault!"

"No, he's not gone forever. I'm sure you'll get him back someday." Snow White sat by her friend and whispered comforting nothings into her ear.

Ella cumbersomely sat up and hiccupped. "How can you say that? You know that when a deal with Rumplestiltskin is broken he swiftly deals terrible punishment to that person." Ella sadly looked down at her stomach. "I still refuse to give my baby to that monster, and because of that I'll never see Thomas again!"

"You must not give up hope! There will be a chance to get him back in the future—I can feel it!"

The blonde princess looked at her friend through tearful eyes. "Snow, I know I might be asking too much, but do you think Regina might know—"

"—No!" Snow stormily interrupted. "I'm not asking that...that monster for anything ever!"

"But she probably knows where Rumplestiltskin lives. She could give me directions, and I could go and rescue Thomas!"

Snow sadly looked at her pitiful friend. "Ella, you're days away from giving birth to your child. You're in no condition to go rescuing anybody. I have an idea. Why don't we ask the Blue Fairy for help?" Snow went to the window and whistled. A blue bird flew to her outstretched hand. Ella watched as Snow whispered instructions into its ear before sending the bird on its way. Five minutes later, the Blue Fairy flew in through the window and gazed serenely at the two very-pregnant women.

"I just got your message. Now what is it you want help with?"

"Oh great fairy of knowledge, I implore you; please help me get my husband Thomas back from Rumplestiltskin!"

The Blue Fairy looked at Cinderella in shock. "He has your husband? That's funny, and I thought he liked Belle. Oh well. Anyway, I know how to help you. However, what I have to say is for _your _ears only." She looked pointedly at Snow.

Snow carefully got to her feet. "I was just going to leave now anyway. I'm planning on painting Emma's nursery room today. It's probably all going to be for nothing once Regina's curse rips through later this week, but that's no reason not to stay busy in the meanwhile."

Once Snow left, Ella looked at the Blue Fairy curiously. "So, what do you have to say that you couldn't say in front of Snow?"

"Just that I have no idea where Rumplestiltskin currently is, so we're gonna pay a visit to someone that does; someone that Snow White hates."

"That was _my_ idea in the first place!" Ella complained as the Blue Fairy grabbed her pinky and flew them both out the window.

**Storybrooke**

Belle left the shop just before sundown. She was starving because her stash of snacks had run out a few hours earlier, so she decided to go to Granny's Diner for a bite. On the way there, Storybrooke residents that she had never even talked to her before turned and waved at her. _Hmm. This is strange. _Then she saw a poster on a tree of her face with the words "ELECT BELLE FOR MAYOR" printed on it. Walking on, she saw an identical poster on the next tree. _Oh no,_ she thought as she realized that the posters were on every single tree lining the street. By the time she finally got to Granny's, she had passed probably a hundred posters, all with her face smiling out at passersby.

"...And once we get back to the Enchanted Forest, she promises to build an intergalactic pathway so people who want to remain in Storybrooke can still visit their friends. These funds will come from Belle's gigantic..." Belle groaned in frustration. That was Ruby's voice coming out of the diner, and it sounded like she was telling the patrons of the restaurant a big pack of lies about Belle. Walking in, she saw that Ruby was surrounded by people all listening to her with wide-eyes. "Of course, Belle understands that unicorns might not survive in this world. But if people really want them, she says that research can be done to develop a magical atmosphere over the town."

"Ruby! Can I have a word with you?" Belle ran over to Ruby and grabbed her arm, intending to drag her out of the diner. However, the occupants of the diner grouped around her and prevented her from escaping.

"Belle, is it true that you want to support the miners?"

"What do you think about regulating the use of magic?"

"Do you really think that Mr. Gold is sexy?"

Belle tried to break away from their grasp, but it was to no avail. The townspeople seemed to have been whipped into a frenzy by Ruby.

"What is going on here?!" Mother Superior suddenly entered the diner, looking angrier and more commanding than Belle had ever seen her.

At the look on her face, everyone faltered. "We...want Belle to be the mayor," Leroy said abashedly.

"You want _Belle _to be mayor? Even though she was contaminated by Rumplestiltskin?!"

_What is she talking about? _Belle saw Mother Superior quickly jerk her arm almost undiscernably, and Belle suddenly felt a weird burning sensation on her arms that lasted a few seconds.

"Look under her sweater. You will find the proof there."

Leroy lifted up the sleeves of her sweater, and Belle saw that her smooth skin had been transformed into the mottled skin that had afflicted Mr. Gold in his Dark One guise. The townspeople all gasped and started backing away.

"No, wait! It's not true! She did this to me!" Belle pointed at Mother Superior accusingly.

Ashley then walked through the door into the diner. "Ruby, I just want my usual. Hey, what's everybody staring at?"

"Oh, Ashley, thank goodness you're here," Mother Superior loudly proclaimed. "Belle had tricked the good citizens of Storybrooke into wanting her for mayor. But now that they know how corrupt she is, I'm sure they will want someone pure of heart who can lead them through these dark and difficult times. Someone...like you."

Ashley sighed wearily. "I told you, I don't really want to be mayor."

"You see how humble she is!" Mother Superior shouted so everyone could hear her.

"Well, I don't want to be mayor either," Belle stated emphatically.

The crowd grumbled uneasily at these new developments in the situation. Ruby, sensing that public opinion was suddenly swaying away from her candidate, pointed at Ashley and said clearly "You think Ashley is pure of heart? I guess you haven't heard about her and Dr. Whale then."

"What about her and Dr. Whale?" Gretel asked curiously.

Ruby hesitated slightly and then said "Well, let's just say that I won't talk about it in front of children. It might give her nightmares. As well as the rest of you!"

Belle rolled her eyes. "Ruby, I said that I don't want to run for mayor. This is getting ridiculous. I'm leaving."

Ashley looked like she was about to cry. "I don't know what she's talking about. Really!"

Mother Superior glared at Ruby as if she was about to hex her. "This isn't over yet!" she articulated ominously.

Ruby crossed her arms and gave the nun her most venomous look. "Bring it, bitches."

**In the past**

"So what is it you want again?" the Evil Queen asked distractedly as she strolled around the room.

"Directions to Rumplestiltskin, your majesty." Ella tried to control the quavers of fear in her voice, but it was difficult. Regina was a formidable woman, and it didn't help that the Blue Fairy had opted to wait outside for Ella (something about being allergic to the kind of wiring found in pushup bras; based on what the Blue Fairy herself was wearing, Ella didn't quite believe it).

"Well, I'm kind of busy right now. In case you didn't know, I'm in the middle of preparing to enact an epic curse on all of the Enchanted Forest. So, unless you want to help pack my multiple pairs of new silk pajamas into suitcases, I recommend that you vamoose and spend your last free days helping Snow paint her nursery—it looks like you're going to need a space in it soon too." She laughed cruelly after that statement.

"I'm being serious!" Ella exclaimed as she followed the queen.

"So was I." Regina suddenly turned around and pierced Ella with her gaze. "I just told you that you are all going to be cursed very soon, so why do you want to spend your last few days searching for a man?"

"Because I love him," Ella pleaded, "and when you love someone, you keep searching for them no matter what. Even if I can't spend the rest of my life with Thomas, at least I can have a few days with him."

Regina's eyes softened. "Well..."

"Oh please help me!"

"...I guess I can give you directions because you asked so nicely. But you need to do something for me when you get to Rumplestiltskin's lair."

"Oh, whatever you want!" Ella said happily.

Regina grabbed a quill and a piece of parchment and hurriedly scribbled some directions onto it. "Here is this. And when you get there, I want you to bring me back this"—Regina then drew a picture of a vial onto the parchment.

"What is it?" Ella asked.

"Well, because in a few days you won't remember anything, I see no harm in telling you. Rumplestiltskin has one of my tears, and I want it back. Tears can work powerful magic against the person who shed them, and I don't want him to have that power over me. I might as well get it back before the curse if I can." Regina rolled the parchment up and tied it before handing it to Ella.

"Oh thank you! You won't regret this!"

Regina smiled at seeing the eager look upon Ella's face. "I'll tell you what. If you bring my tear back to me, I'll make sure that you and Thomas are happily together after the curse is placed. But if you fail, your relationship with him will be full of strife."

"I won't fail! And thank you again! And good luck with your curse! See you later!"

Ella hobbled out of the room as fast as her pregnancy allowed her and went to find the Blue Fairy, leaving Regina to continue putting all of her drag queen-esque costumes in a pile that she planned to donate to the Enchanted Forest's Goodwill. If one thing was for certain, it was that magic always comes with a price, and in Regina's case this time, her sacrifice seemed to be her giving up her sexy Evil Queen clothing in order to fit into the new world

**Neverland**

"Tinker Bell! Tinker Bell!" Emma called for the umpteenth time. Emma had just remembered an hour earlier that the fairy had told her to call her name if she ever needed her.

"Emma, give it up! She's not coming," Regina snarled. She had been full of hope when Emma had first thought of calling the name, but over the past hour her hope had once again plummeted to despair.

"I don't understand, she told me to say her name if I ever needed her," Emma wondered aloud.

Regina gave Mr. Gold a look. "Well, Miss Swan, believe me when I say that Tinker Bell isn't the only unreliable magical being who falsely tells people that."

Carlotta the servant walked over to them. "The sun is going down and I thought I should show everyone to where they will be sleeping tonight. Mr. Jones and Mr. Gold, would you please follow me? Because the ship is very crowded now, you will be sleeping in the crew's quarters." The two men looked at her with horror at the thought of sleeping in the crew's quarters like some common servant, but they went with her without protest. She next came back for Mary Margaret and David.

"Wait, what about me? If there really isn't much room on the ship then I can sleep in the same cabin as them!" Emma said desperately, already guessing where this was going.

Carlotta gave her an inscrutable look before leaving with Emma's parents. Emma turned to face Regina. Both women stared at each other for a moment with blood rushing to their faces before they quickly turned away.

After what felt like hours of being alone in each other's company, Carlotta returned with Eric. He grinned at them. "I've decided to give my cabin over to the newlyweds and I will sleep with the crew."

"That really isn't necessary!" Emma impetuously cried out. "I'll happily sleep with the crew!"

Eric smiled at her indulgently before saying "Follow me."

"No really! I wasn't just saying it to be nice or polite! I really do want to sleep with the crew!" But Emma's agony fell on selective-listening ears; Eric led the two women to a cabin that had little else in it but for a desk, a dresser, a nightstand, and a bed.

Carlotta gave them some bundles of clothes. "I found these and I thought you might want to change out of what you've been wearing all day. All right, have a good night, ladies."

Emma glared at her. _She better not be suggesting what I think she's suggesting_.

Carlotta walked away, leaving Eric standing there grinning idiotically at them. "Um, goodnight," Regina said to Eric. She seemed resigned to her fate of spending a night next to Emma.

"Goodnight." Eric replied without making any move to leave. He continued to grin at them.

"Is there something you need?" Emma asked him while also steeling herself for spending the night alone with Henry's psychotic other-mother. _Gosh darn it, if she can stand me, then I'll show her that I can also endure being with her._

"No." The two women gave him a look. "Oh!" Realization suddenly dawned on his face. "I guess you want to be alone now. Um, I'll just be going!" Eric ran from the room.

Regina gave Emma a look that said 'Don't you dare talk to me about any of this.' It was one of those rare occasions that Emma actually agreed with Regina about something.

**Storybrooke**

Astrid sat at a computer designing the ballot for the upcoming election. Although both women hadn't originally wanted to run for mayor, Belle and Ashley had finally relented and allowed their names to go on the ballot. Probably, she suspected, because both wanted revenge on the other side. Ruby had spent the day going door to door spreading malicious rumors about Ashley. Mother Superior, on the other hand, had a different tactic. Every time she saw Belle, she stealthily cursed her with another physical ailment. Along with the mottled arms, Belle was now sporting horns on top of her head and a tail. When Astrid had volunteered to design the ballot, Mother Superior asked her to leave Belle's name off of it and just have Ashley's name and a space for a write-in. Astrid had been brought up too well to do anything of the sort, so she included both names. To top it all off, when he had learned that there were no requirements to run for mayor except having once been a citizen of the Enchanted Forest, Hansel had also decided to run to everyone's amusement. Lucky for him, neither Ruby nor Mother Superior considered him a threat, and so he remained unscathed.

"Are you almost finished?" Hansel asked the sister. He had been popping in a lot lately to make sure that his name was on the ballot, much to Michael's chagrin. Michael wasn't exactly pleased at the thought of his young son running for mayor in the midst of the name-calling magic-slinging war.

"Yes, I'm done." The finished voting ticket had the names Ashley Boyd, Belle, Hansel Tillman, and a space for a write-in on it. Astrid then emailed the completed ballot to Leroy, who would print all of them out and bring them to the town hall where the voting would take place.

"Oh, good! Let's go to town hall now!"

Astrid smiled at the boy and obediently started walking with him. She actually didn't think that she would really mind if he won—he couldn't be any worse of a mayor than Belle, who seemed to be slowly turning into an exotic animal, or Ashley, who seemed to have banged half the town (according to Ruby). Then Astrid suddenly felt a weird pang in her stomach as she realized that she missed Regina; sure she had been an evil witch, but she had also been very good at keeping Storybrooke running in an orderly fashion.

They walked into the town hall alongside all the other residents of Storybrooke who had come to vote. Hansel left Astrid and went up to the front of the room to stand next to Ashley and Belle. The three candidates would first give speeches on why they should be mayor, and then the voting would commence. Ashley went first with her notecards:

"I am only a simple woman who lives to serve Dr. Whale in his noble crusade to rescue his people! I was once as you are now and I promise you we will take these riches from the Charmings. Hey! This isn't the speech that I prepared!"

Ruby snickered in the front row and then called out "Are you sure that's not the speech you prepared? I can't imagine that anyone would want to mess with you."

Mother Superior looked over at Ruby with murder in her eyes. The dwarves all flexed their muscles to ready themselves to break up a fight if they had to.

"Okay, time's up!" Jefferson called in a bored manner. He had been asked to be the person in charge of keeping time, which Astrid regretted because he always looked like he was stoned.

Belle next stepped up to the podium with her speech. "If I were mayor of Storybrooke, not queen, not duke, not prince; my regal robes of the forest, would be satin—eek I'm allergic to satin! And this isn't my speech either!"

Suddenly, a thick layer of fur started to grow around Belle's neck until she was displaying what resembled a lion's mane.

"She's turning into a beast! Get her out of here!" Mother Superior screamed.

"You did this to her!" Ruby hollered at the nun.

Astrid watched the two go at it with some amusement. Mother Superior usually seemed the very paradigm of decency, sophistication, and virtue, but she had really lost herself in the excitement and pressure of the election.

"Okay, time's up!" Jefferson called out again. This time the dwarves had to force Mother Superior and Ruby to sit back down. It was finally Hansel's turn.

"Um, hello everyone. I just want to say that if you elect me, I'll finally be able to earn that leadership scout badge that I've been trying to earn for a while. And everyone will have free ice cream forever."

Astrid stared at him in astonishment as he sat down. _That was it? Between these three candidates, Storybrooke is doomed! _

"It's time to vote," Leroy announced. "I will now pass out the ballots."

Astrid frowned at her ballot when she received it, at a complete loss about who to vote for. She searched her mind for memories of all three of them in the enchanted forest and Storybrooke, trying to think of who would make the best leader. Ashley had been married to a prince, but she had always struck Astrid as being kind of ditzy. Belle on the other hand seemed more clear-headed, but she was associated with Mr. Gold. And Hansel, well, that was a joke, right?

In the end, sifting through her memories of people had the desired effect, and with a smile on her face, Astrid quickly penned a name in.

**In the past**

"At the candy cane grove turn right. No, right. RIGHT!"

The Blue Fairy irritably corrected her flying and went the right way. The closer they had gotten to Rumplestiltskin's lair, the more the winds had picked up and the harder it was for Ella to communicate with her pilot.

"Are we almost there yet? You're starting to get really heavy."

"I think so. All we have remaining is a left at Pride Rock and then straight on until we get to a swamp. Whoa he lives in a swamp? Ew."

The pair dutifully flew on, albeit lower and lower to the ground as the Blue Fairy's strength started to give out. She bitterly reminded herself that she was really flying for three, as Ella's unborn child also undoubtedly added weight into the mix.

"Oh! I think I see it!" Ella exclaimed excitedly. "Yes, there's the swamp. All right, could you land over by that dry spot over there please?"

The Blue Fairy circled down and landed where Ella had pointed, glad to rest her muscles a bit. "Did Regina give you any pointers for getting Thomas back?"

"No, that's where you come in," Ella said in a 'duh' tone of voice.

"Oh," the Blue Fairy replied, a little uncertainly. When she had agreed to help the princess, she had had no idea that it entailed breaking into the lair of the Dark One. "Well, I think we should maybe try the door first." The pair squelched through the mud to the wooden door. It appeared that the evilest creature in the realm lived in a tree stump in a swamp.

"What do we do now?" Ella whispered once they stood in front of the door. "Should we try going in? You never know, he might be out collecting mushrooms or something."

The Blue Fairy could sense that there were magical spells crisscrossing all over the tree stump that would prevent somebody from simply blasting their way in. The door, however, was free from magic, as if it had never occurred to the imp that someone might try entering his house the old fashioned way. She was unable to think of a better approach to rescuing Thomas, so she silently opened the door.

The inside of the house had been enchanted so as to be much bigger than the tree stump it was contained in. Shelves full of books and gizmos lined every wall. Couches and beanbag chairs were strewn about at random, and there was what appeared to be a hot tub in the center of the room. Ella impatiently walked through the first room and into the second in her search for Thomas. The second room was filled with all kinds of weapons. The Blue Fairy stopped to examine a sword that was stuck in a block of marble while Ella pressed onward. _He's got to be here somewhere. _In the third room she found her husband lying on a couch staring at moving images on the wall while holding a strange wand with buttons.

"Oh Thomas darling! I've found you!" Ella waddled over to her husband and embraced him as well as she could under the circumstances.

"Ella, you have to see this! If I press a button on this rod, then a flat person shows up on that wall and throws a brown ball to another flat person! I could sit here watching this for days!"

"We really have to go now, Thomas! Rumplestiltskin could be back any minute!"

Thomas reluctantly allowed himself to be shoved out of the television room and into the weapons room.

"Blue Fairy, I've found Thomas! We can go now!"

"Just a minute, Ella," the Blue Fairy said. She was still examining the sword that was stuck in the block of marble. "I haven't seen this in years, and I had no idea Rumplestiltskin had it. Why, the last time I saw it was when it was—"

The Blue Fairy's reminiscing was cut short by none other than the dreaded Dark One himself, entering from the hot tub room. "I seem to not have been invited to the party, dearies," he cackled.

Ella's fear was swallowed by her anger. "You wicked wicked man! Trying to take my baby and now Thomas from me!"

"Ella, stop," the Blue Fairy hissed at the princess.

Ella paid the Blue Fairy no mind. "You can't just go around playing with people's lives whenever you feel like it."

Rumplestiltskin giggled. "Eehee. I have an idea. Let's make another deal."

"No!" Ella cried, "No more deals!" In her desperation, Ella reached behind her and grabbed the handle of the sword stuck in the marble. It pulled free of the marble, and the princess held it in front of her in an attempt to look threatening. Which, given her disheveled gown and balloon-like appearance, did not exactly work.

Rumplestiltskin blinked in surprise. "I've been trying to magic that sword out of that stone for years. How on earth did pull it off—er—out?"

The Blue Fairy looked even more surprised. "It can't be," she muttered to herself. "How can this helpless, ditzy, gold digger be the descendant of...no, it can't be. Rumplestiltskin must be tricking me."

Ella attempted to swing the sword at the imp. "You are going to let us go now!"

He giggled again. "I suppose if I don't you are going to slay me. Very well, you may take your pansy husband and leave. The fairy stays here, however. I want to have a discussion with her. And give me that sword back!"

The princess had no problem with that because she had her husband back, so she gingerly handed the sword to Rumplestiltskin and walked through the hot tub room and out into the swamp with Thomas. Once they got outside, the door quickly slammed shut behind them.

"How are we going to get back to my palace?" Thomas complained.

Ella patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. I passed a town that's close by on the way here. I'm sure they will have horses and a carriage to spare. Ella started to lumber slowly in the direction of where she had seen the town before suddenly stopping in alarm. "Oh no! I forgot Regina's tear! Without that, we won't be happy together!"

"Regina's what?" Thomas asked in confusion. Ella explained the situation to him. Thomas then ran back to the tree stump and tried the door, but it refused to open.

Ella's eyes opened wide with understanding. "That's why he let us go so easily! Because he knew that it wouldn't matter—that soon Regina's curse wouldn't let us be together anyway!"

Thomas looked sadly at his princess. "I promise you, that no matter what happens, I will always love you and always try to find you!"

Ella smiled slightly through the tears that were now running down her face. "You stole that phrase from James."

**Neverland**

Emma unfolded the packet of clothes that Carlotta had given her. Out fell what appeared to be a set of sailor clothes for the next day, and a long shirt that looked like a nightgown. Emma stole a glance at Regina. She had turned away from Emma and also examining the clothes she had received—it seemed that Carlotta had also given Regina a nightgown. Emma quickly slipped out of her clothes and put on the nightgown, all the while watching Regina to make sure that she wasn't watching her. Regina still hadn't moved to undress yet, but instead was examining her clothes. Emma took advantage of having nobody watching her to quickly get into the bed and pull the covers up to her chin. Then she turned away from Regina and closed her eyes. She wasn't sure why, but for some reason the thought of Regina seeing any of her bare skin made her feel nervous and uncomfortable.

"So you're just going to ignore me now?"

Regina's low-pitched voice made Emma snap back to reality. She must have dozed off, because Regina was suddenly in bed next to her.

"I thought you were the one ignoring me!" Emma protested, her voice sounding childishly high and whiny to her own ears.

"It's kind of hard to ignore you when you're the reason I spent the entire day feeling weaker and weaker."

"What do you mean?"

"Even without a matching stone to anchor you to me, I still felt a constant drain on my magic."

"How does that work?" Emma asked sleepily.

Regina yawned. "I'm not exactly sure. We'll have to ask Gold, but I'm guessing that by being magically bonded, my magic still wanted to connect to whatever small bit of magic you have in you, and the distance between worlds took more energy to sustain that connection than it usually would."

Regina then blew out the candle on the nightstand. Emma was unable to fall asleep immediately as thoughts of Henry and Regina's words raced through her mind. She missed her son dearly, and the memory of the horror she felt immediately after she had gotten back to Neverland made her extremely worried about him. It was also strange to think that being far away from Regina could make her feel sick—Emma wasn't sure how she felt about having such a bond with the woman who could inspire such strong feelings of loathing in her at times.


	3. When the Foeman Bares His Steel

Author's note: Sorry for the wait, this chapter was harder to write than I was expecting. Thank you to my reviewers. Right now, Emma thinks that she doesn't really like Regina, but later, she'll realize that she has Regina right in the palm of her hand.

* * *

3.03: When the Foeman Bares His Steel

**Neverland - Present Day**

Something heavy and wet brushed against Emma's face repeatedly until she grumbled and rolled over—right into Regina. This caused Emma's mind to go from being mostly asleep to completely awake in less than a second at the sudden pressure of the sleeping body against her own. Luckily, Regina stayed asleep throughout the ordeal, so Emma was able to quickly spring out of the bed and away from a potentially embarrassing situation. The shaggy dog that had been licking her grinned cartoonishly at its victim's reaction before quickly running out of the room. Breathing heavily, Emma then surveyed her surroundings: Regina was sleeping in the middle of the bed and was closer to Emma's side than her own. Therefore, it was no wonder that the two women had gotten so close that morning. Emma made a face in displeasure and told herself that she would breach the topic of bedsharing etiquette with Regina before the next night so there would be no more incidents. Then she realized that she was lying to herself. _Who am I kidding? This is one awkward topic that I'm definitely going to stay away from with Regina._

Shaking the sleep from her eyes, Emma quickly got dressed and then exited the cabin to find Mary Margaret and David. They were eating a light breakfast with the crew on the deck of the ship.

"Mornin'" David greeted her by waving a biscuit in her face.

"Emma," Mary Margaret said with worry-lines etched on her face, "I think we should separate from Prince Eric and this ship as soon as we get to the mainland. I mean, they have their own agenda and we have to find Henry as soon as possible."

"What is their agenda again?" David asked.

Mr. Gold suddenly appeared next to them. "They say that they're looking for a woman with dark hair and violet eyes. Carlotta told me that they followed her here from their world."

Emma thought for a moment, and then announced "I think Mary Margaret is right. Journeying with the _Infinity _probably will not help us find Henry. We should leave as soon as we find land."

The four allies started secretly packing some supplies for when they left. For some reason, Emma felt guilty about planning to leave the ship that had rescued her from the storm, and so she delayed telling the captain of the changed plans.

An hour passed and the sun rose higher in the sky. Finally, land was sighted. As the ship moved closer to it, Emma watched with bated breath while hoping that the land was not just another small island.

"Um, Prince Eric?" Mary Margaret asked the captain once they were close enough to see that it was a large land mass that they were approaching, "We were wondering if you were planning on stopping here."

"I was not planning on it. We have no need for more supplies, and stopping will just delay our voyage."

"Oh, well, this is kinda awkward, but my friends and I were planning on getting off on the land and journeying inland."

Eric shrugged. "That's fine with me. I'll even give you one of our lifeboats so you can make it to land."

Mary Margaret looked relieved. "Really? That's great!"

Eric whistled and two of his men came running. "Give Mary Margaret and her comrades one of the lifeboats," he ordered. "Make sure that there are plenty of supplies packed in the boat for them."

Emma smiled for the first time in a while. "Thank you so much. First you saved us from the storm, and now you give us a boat and supplies. You have aided us tremendously in our journey, and your kindness will not be forg—"

Mr. Gold elbowed Emma in the stomach lightly, then whispered, "Please spare us your feeble attempt at making an eloquent speech."

Emma ignored him and decided to help the sailors with the preparation of the lifeboat for its trip to the land. They packed bags full of dried food, water, blankets, tarps, and other necessities for survival. By the time they finished, the _Infinity _was only several hundred feet away from the shore—close enough for Emma and her allies to carefully disembark and sail to the land and far enough away for the _Infinity _to be safe from any shallow and treacherous beaches.

"And that's everything!" Emma cheerfully announced. "Mary Margaret, could you please tell Regina that we are leav—"

"What is going on here?!" Regina stormed into the center of activity, making Eric run for cover.

"Regina," Emma said nervously, "You were sleeping and we didn't want to wake you to say that we decided to leave the ship."

"You made this decision without me?! What if I don't want to leave this ship? What if I think it's a better idea to search for Henry on the sea?"

Emma gave her mother a desperate look that clearly said 'What do I do or say to appease this rampaging woman that I just happen to be married to?' Mary Margaret shrugged.

"Regina," David said cautiously, "We all know that you want to be reunited with your son, and we thought that you might want us to look for Henry further inland than on the ocean or shore."

To everyone's relief, Regina seemed to cool down at his words.

"Perhaps you're right," she said as if the idea that her past enemies could be right about something was an entirely new idea to her. "Maybe Henry is on land somewhere. As it appears that we're leaving right now (without anybody telling me), I'll just go get my belongings." And the once-mayor of Storybrooke strided away.

"What belongings?" Mary Margaret asked perplexedly. "It's not like she had time to pack before coming to Neverland."

"David, you are awesome!" Emma grabbed her father in a hug. "Seriously, how'd you talk her down like that? Any pointers?"

Mary Margaret hugged him too. "Yeah, for once you came through in a situation where we actually needed saving!"

The trio's little joy-fest was suddenly cut short by Hook, who ran toward them and shouted "Turn the ship around! We can't go over there!"

Emma's protest choked in her throat as she saw the black and jagged pirate ship appear from around a bend in the land and head straight at them.

**In the past**

A young Killian Jones smooshed his body closer to the tree in an attempt to conceal himself—not that he had to bother; the green foliage surrounding him already did the trick.

"Dada, look! It's one of the bunnies with a prickly tail!"

A young girl of about three toddled into view. She was followed by a man and two women. Hook smiled. _This is just perfect. This will send the right message to those savages—that there's only room on this planet for one race to rule. _He held his breath as the four slowly walked toward the dead rabbit, which was stuffed and propped up against a rock so as to appear alive. He watched as one of the women frowned, the rabbit probably appeared too still to her. It was almost as if they were walking into a—

_SWISH._ Killian cut the rope and a large net descended from a tree and landed on top of them. The adults immediately started struggling.

"Men!" Killian yelled, "Subdue them!"

Pirates that had before been silent and invisible leaped out of trees and ran over to the net. Pointing their swords at the squirming mass, they slowly began pulling the net away.

"If you try to escape, I promise that you will die," Killian intoned coldly.

Finally, the net was off them. One of the women picked up the toddler and held her closely. All three adults glared at Killian with hatred in their eyes.

"And now we march, men. Back to the fort."

"Do we really have to do this, Jones? There's a baby with them."

Killian glared at the pirate who had dared question his orders. "And yet again you question me, Kevin. If I didn't know better, I would think that you wanted to be in charge."

"Sir, it's just that there are better methods of imposing your will than always using such violent tactics."

Killian heard a few other pirates mumble their agreement. He snorted. "Listen to you cowards. If you had your way, we would soon be reduced to waiting on the savages hand and foot and day and night. By taking a few as slaves, I'm sending them a clear message." He glanced around at his men with a warning in his eyes. A few looked sullenly back, but most gazed steadfastly at the ground. Satisfied, Killian gave the order to march again, and the troop began the hike back to the fortress.

**Neverland—Present Day**

"Turn the ship around!" Hook shouted at no one in particular. But it was too late; the _Infinity _was unable to make such a sharp turn in time. Hook then tried a different tactic: "Fire the cannons! Now!"

"But sir, we don't have any cannons on this ship," a sailor said to Hook.

Hook looked to Eric for an explanation.

"We're lovers, not fighters," he said defensively in response to the questioning glance.

By that time, the sleek pirate ship had cut across the _Infinity_'s intended path and was just about side by side with it. Emma could see people aboard the other ship, and it looked like they were aiming a device used for launching projectiles.

"Are these people dangerous?" Eric asked Hook.

"Dangerous?! They're pirates!"

"But I thought that _you_ were a pirate," stated Mary Margaret in confusion as grappling hooks from the other ship connected with the deck.

"I was, but I was a rogue pirate. These pirates are..."

"The real deal?" David finished helpfully.

"Guys, I hate to interrupt you," Emma shouted, "But how are we going to get away?"

More grappling hooks sprung out and held the two ships together, causing Hook to dejectedly slump into the railing. "I think I'm just going to jump overboard now."

"You'll never make it to shore," David shouted, "At least by staying on the ship you'll have a chance of survival!"

The pirates started leaping over the railing of their ship and then swiftly scaled the ropes leading to the _Infinity_.

"We surrender! Just don't hurt us!" Eric yelled pathetically.

Emma rolled her eyes and grabbed David's sword from its scabbard. She brandished it at the first pirate that boarded the ship. "Stay back, I'm warning you! You have no idea what you're dealing with or what we are capable of!"

But the pirate only had eyes for Hook. "If it isn't my old matey Killian Jones. Last time I saw you, you were bailing water out of a rapidly sinking bathtub that you were riding across the ocean. Harr harr! What are you up to now, you old scallywag?"

Splotches of crimson stained Hook's face. "I was only in that bathtub because you threw me out of the fort in it. If the entire castle hadn't mutinied and ganged up on me I could have easily fought my way to safety."

The pirate laughed in amusement. "Save your tongue for the Pirate King."

All the blood in Hook's face suddenly drained away. "You mean you're taking us to see the Pirate King?"

"Well yeah, you seem to have brought us a new ship chock full of supplies and luscious-looking people." He grinned appreciatively at Regina, who had just appeared on the deck with a bag full of items looted from the ship. "Of course the Pirate King is going to be interested in this."

Emma felt strangely irritated. "We're not going without a fight!"

"Oooh! A feisty one. I'm starting to like our catch more and more."

Hook gestured at Emma to lower the sword. "There's too many of them to fight. We're going to have to go with them."

Emma frowned, but knew that he was right. It seemed like Hook had had some experience with these pirates in the past, so it was probably a good idea to trust him. The first pirate, who appeared to be in charge, signaled to his men to take control of the ship. They did so and started steering the _Infinity _closer to the land. As they moved around a large rock that was jutting out into the water, a fort suddenly came into view. At its center was what appeared to be a castle that was surrounded by smaller buildings and structures. A tall wooden wall encircled everything and prevented any casual barbarians from storming the castle.

"What is that?" Mr. Gold asked Hook.

Hook ignored the question.

"Why don't you tell your friend where we're taking them?" the lead pirate said.

"That is the Pirates' Fortress," Hook reluctantly replied.

"And he knows that 'cause he used to live there...before he got kicked out for poor behavior."

The nearby pirates all laughed heartily at that statement. Hook seemed not to react, although Emma noticed the skin around his mouth tightening.

The _Infinity _sailed into the harbor of the fortress before coming to a halt next to a large expanse of empty dock. Emma, her companions, and the members of Prince Eric's crew were each grabbed by a pirate and hustled down the gangplank onto the dock before being forced up a steep flight of stairs that led to the castle. Once inside, they were thrown into a spacious and empty room that was immediately off of the main hallway.

"All right, what's our plan?" David asked Hook once the pirates had left them.

Hook shrugged. "There's no way we can escape from here. The Pirates' Fortress is the most heavily-guarded building in all of Neverland. You would be shot down after you've taken three steps outside."

"Henry! Can you hear me Henry?!" Regina shouted.

Everybody looked at her as if she had suddenly lost her mind.

"It's possible that he's also locked up somewhere nearby," she explained. "It always seems to happen that way in books, where the person who mysteriously went missing in chapter three has all along been kept in the cell next to the one that the heroine suddenly finds herself thrown into."

In response to everyone's continued puzzled looks, Regina said "Well, I needed some way to entertain myself in Storybrooke after years of the same day repeating.

Mary Margaret opened her mouth indignantly. "You chose to have time repeat, so don't act like it was so boring and difficult for you."

Regina gave her a content half-smile that no doubt infuriated Mary Margaret even more. "Well, dear, spending years with everyone under a curse was much better than having to listen to Snow White whine and mope about True Love continuously.

Before a fight could break out, a pirate luckily chose that moment to enter the room. "The Pirate King has spoken: the leaders of your pathetic band, along with Jones, are to attend a meal with our King, where it will be decided whether each person will become slaves, fish food, or new recruits for our ranks."

"And how are you going to make us go with you?" Emma shouted insolently.

The pirate snapped his fingers and wooden paneling along the walls suddenly slid up, revealing narrow windows with an archer stationed at each one.

"Oh, that's how," Emma said, clearly taken aback. "Well, as for leaders, I am the leader in the search for Henry, so I should go. David and Mary Margaret were leaders of the Enchanted Forest, so they should go. And Mr. Gold is...um..." Emma hesitated, not wanting to reveal that he could do magic in front of the pirates. "...Well, he's also a leader. And I suppose Eric should go as well, as he's the leader of just about everybody else."

"What about me?" Regina snapped at the blonde. "I want to find Henry as much as you do, plus I was just as much of a leader in Storybrooke and the Enchanted Forest as the two charming bozos here."

"Didn't I mention that the beautiful dark-haired woman was supposed to come along as well?" the pirate quickly said as he caught sight of Regina. "Aye, I think she'll be an excellent addition to our...er...discussion."

Regina looked hesitantly at the pirate, as if she had suddenly changed her mind and wanted to stay back with Eric's crew. But other pirates were already entering the room and blindfolding the chosen group. Once the blindfolds were secure, the seven allies were escorted from the room.

**In the past**

Killian Jones sat on his high wooden throne contently, basking in the intruding sunlight as a cat does. "Tell me again, Mack Throat Slasher, the news of the savages."

Mack bowed before the throne nervously. "Oh Great Pirate King, it is as I have said: half the tribe is moving north in search of more food because we have burned their crops. Others are determined to stay and make a stand. They are demanding that we give them their people back."

Killian flicked a finger lazily and a woman bound in shackles came forward out of the shadows and refilled Killian's glass with more wine. Mack noticed that her violet eyes were full of loathing, and he hoped that the Pirate King didn't notice. The woman was one of the four who had been captured weeks before. As the other three appeared to be a family, Killian usually left them alone in their quarters, but he loved making the other woman—the one with a youthful exotic beauty—wait on him by herself, often asking her to put pieces of food right in his mouth.

Hook chuckled. "In reality, they're convincing me to do the opposite. Perhaps they will feel the sting of defeat more keenly if I take more people to become my slaves."

"You will never defeat my people!" The woman stood firmly in front of Killian, her eyes flashing wildly.

Mack ran for cover. He had been working under Killian Jones for long enough to know when to quietly slip away.

Killian threw his glass at his slave. It broke on the hard floor and sent tiny little cut marks up her feet. "Silence! I will not be spoken to in this manner by a puny little savage woman. I will crush your people. Now pick up those pieces."

"Don't you think you're being a little dramatic?"

A middle aged woman entered the room and helped the young woman pick up the glass pieces. Hook glared at her. Ruth was Kevin's mother, and together, they always seemed to be whispering behind Killian's back about how they doubted that he was fit to be Pirate King.

In the Pirate's Fortress, the men had always ruled and the women had always been submissive. Killian's parents had raised him to believe in the traditional views of gender roles, and so it was no wonder that he had always felt disdain and some fear toward Ruth. For as long as he could remember, she had been questioning the pirates' core beliefs; specifically, the way they treated the natives that they shared the land and sea with.

Ruth finished picking the glass shards up and then looked at Killian with a small amount of pity in her eyes. "Killian, you're only 16 years old. Many older men have crumbled under the demands that leadership brings, and as Pirate King, I know you're experiencing stress about how best to serve your people. But fighting and repressing the natives will only bring more war in the long run, not peace. Our only hope is to befriend them and work together."

Killian looked down at her scornfully. "You're speaking like a weak woman. I know what you're up to! You want your son Kevin to be Pirate King. Yes, I hear you whispering behind my back like a couple of moldy magpies. You want my kingdom."

Amazement flashed across Ruth's face. "I desire no such thing. I only want the best thing for the people—for _all_ the people. Power for power's sake holds no temptation for me."

Killian snapped his fingers. "Guards, take her away."

Three pirate guards marched in and looked at Ruth hesitantly.

"There's no need for this, fellows," she said calmly, "I can walk myself out."

Once she was gone, Killian grabbed another glass and threw it at the young woman that he was forcing to be his slave. "Ah, that makes me feel better."

The guards looked at him as if he had lost my mind.

**Storybrooke**

Belle sat on the floor of Mr. Gold's study so she could reach the books on the bottom shelves of his many bookcases. She had a feeling that the book to translate the cloaking spell would be in the room somewhere because he didn't seem like the type to give someone a magical spell without there being a way to use that spell.

"Belle, are you in there?" There was a light knock on the door before it was pushed open and Ashley flounced in. "Oh Belle, I have some great news!"

"Congratulations on being elected mayor, Ashley," Belle said while trying to sound sincere. Although she hadn't wanted to be mayor at first, the idea had started to sound appealing to her, and now the dream had been dashed to bits.

"What? Oh, you think _I _was elected mayor? Do you think I would sound so happy if that was true?"

"But when we were campaigning, it seemed like you really wanted it."

"Mother Superior wanted me to want it, for some unknown reason. But don't worry; we are both safe from that dreaded position."

Belle looked at Ashley in disbelief. "Don't tell me that Hansel was actually elected."

"No, no, silly. Granny was elected mayor. Leroy told me that most everybody wrote her name in."

"Granny was elected mayor?" Belle paused for a moment to let the truth sink in. "Well, that's good news. Granny will make an excellent mayor."

"Yes!" Ashley said happily. "And what's even better is that Mother Superior will be off my back."

Belle didn't know the Mother Superior very well, so she couldn't say if her outlandish behavior during the campaigns was unusual for her. But she was still completely puzzled by the way Ruby had acted. Belle had told her several times that she had no interest in being mayor, yet Ruby had gone behind Belle's back in order to promote her and undermine Ashley. And after the voting was over with, Belle had hoped that Ruby would be back to normal and that the two could be best friends again. However, Ruby had disappeared again.

"…I was thinking that we could run over to Granny's diner, congratulate her, and then celebrate our narrow escape!"

Belle shook her head to clear it and make her mind return to the present. "I would love to, Ashley, except I'm sort of tied up right now. I'm trying to research something that's top secret."

Ashley winked at Belle. "Tied up, oh I get it. Well, I'll just run off now and leave you to your devices." And she did so, leaving behind her a slightly confused Belle.

**Neverland—Present Day**

Emma was pushed up steps and down long and dank hallways until she felt a warmer breeze on her face. She heard a door being pushed open in front of her, and the hush of the hallway was replaced by the din of many people talking at once. Emma was marched into the room and forced to sit down on a chair. Reaching in front of her, she could feel the edge of a table, and a little further beyond that, silverware and a goblet.

"Hey! Watch where you're putting your hands!"

Regina's voice came close to her ear and Emma smiled in spite of herself. By the sound of things, Regina's pirate had been a little more touchy-feely than Emma's had been.

The clattering bedlam went on for a few more minutes as everybody got seated. Emma sat on the edge of her seat tensely, wondering if the blindfold was ever going to be taken off. Finally, a clear projecting voice split the racket.

"I want to welcome my guests to my castle, and I bid them to partake in this feast and be merry."

Emma frowned in confusion. The Pirate King's voice was higher-pitched than she had imagined.

"Well, it's a little difficult to be merry with these blindfolds over our eyes, Ruth!" Hook yelled insolently.

"Killian, is that you? I didn't realize you were still alive!"

Someone pulled the blindfold off of Emma, and she was able to look at her surroundings for the first time. She was in a large room with high ceilings that had depictions of men dressed in nothing but laurel leaves who were fighting battles and getting drunk. The walls were bricks inlaid with gold, and large candelabras were set every few feet. Four long and narrow tables had been arranged so as to form the outline of a square, where Emma and her friends were sitting at one end, the pirates made up the sides, and at the very opposite end was the Pirate King surrounded by more pirates. And the Pirate King was...a woman.

She appeared to be in her 60s, with scraggly gray hair and bright blue eyes. While the pirates sitting nearest to her wore elaborate and expensive-looking clothing, she was dressed in simple breeches and a shirt. But what caught Emma's attention most was what she wore around her neck: a pearl-like stone threaded on a leather cord rested just under her clavicle.

"Regina," Emma whispered to the woman sitting next to her, "Look at her necklace. Doesn't that look like the magical artifact that I used to travel to that other world to rescue Henry?"

"You mean the one you used to attempt to rescue and then fail to rescue Henry." It appeared that Regina was still bitter that Emma had been the one chosen to go and not her.

"Well Killian," the Pirate King was still verbally jousting with Hook, "If you hadn't been so careless, moronic, and so utterly stupid back then, you might still be Pirate King today."

Emma gaped at Hook. _He had once been the Pirate King?_

Hook looked annoyed that that tiny piece of information had slipped out, but before he could sling any choice words back, she continued speaking.

"And this brings me to why I have summoned you all to this chamber now. Believe it or not, it was not just so I could humiliate Killian in front of his friends."

The pirates, who had been stealthily whispering to their chums during Ruth's and Hook's verbal battle, stopped talking and looked attentively at their chief.

"I have a mission for the intruders here. I want you to journey into the forest and deliver a message to the people who live there."

"Why do you need us to go for you?" David asked.

"Because if any of my people take one step into their woods, they immediately get riddled with arrows.

David nodded. "Fair enough, I suppose."

Hook laughed. "Ruth, don't tell me you're still attempting to negotiate with those savages."

She glared at Hook. "When you left, there was finally peace between the two peoples, and I know there can be again!"

"What do we get if we perform this task for you?" Mary Margaret boldly asked.

"Besides your lives and your freedom? What else could you possibly want?"

"Your necklace!" Emma impertinently shouted at the Pirate King.

Ruth automatically reached up and touched her necklace in surprise, and the other pirates around Ruth also looked at her with some trepidation. But with the exception of the Pirate King, their reaction seemed to be based more on the way she had shouted at their leader than the request she had made.

"We'll talk about it later. And now...eat!"

A cheer went up among the pirates as they dug into their food. However, as she gazed down at her food (which appeared to be alive and wriggling), Emma was too deep in thought to start eating. She wondered how this older woman had a necklace that was nearly identical to the one that Tinker Bell had given her. Was Ruth aware of her necklace's powers? And if she was, could she help Emma rescue her son?

**In the past**

Killian paced madly along the great hall while calling for his guards. Finally, a group of them timidly walked in. "There you are, you brainless scum. I've been yelling for forever. My slave has escaped. Find her and bring her back, and while you're at it bring me my whip. I'm in need of something to cheer me up.

The guards looked back at him apprehensively. Finally, one got up the courage to speak. "Sir, there has been a slight change of arrangements."

Killian looked at him suspiciously. "Change of arrangements? What arrangements?"

The pirates lifted their swords and held them in front of them so they were pointed at Killian. He gazed at the weapons in bewilderment. "What's all this?"

"It's just a precaution, so you don't do anything rash while we're talking to you. There has been unrest in the fortress ever since you became Pirate King. Some people think...that you...that you're too young to lead so many people."

Killian glared at them while his hand inched toward his own sword. "I was chosen to be Pirate King because I was the most fearsome pirate in all the land, even though I was young. Why should age play a factor now?"

They gulped nervously. "It's just that some of the older pirates think we need a more mature person to lead us through these difficult times."

With a roar, Killian raised his sword, intending to surprise them. But somebody behind him smacked him in the side with a giant wooden staff before he could inflict any damage. Killian whirled around in a rage. It was Kevin. "You!" Killian screamed. "You planned this. You spread discontent among my most faithful followers because you wanted to be Pirate King!"

Kevin looked calmly back at him. "No, I did not plan this. You brought this down on yourself with your foolish ideas."

Killian pierced Kevin with such a gaze of hatred that he instinctually took a step backwards. "You may have won this round, but someday I will have my revenge. I will kill you some day."

"I doubt it," Kevin composedly stated. "And by the way, I'm not the new Pirate King."

Killian looked at Kevin with surprise. "You're not? Then who is?"

Ruth joined them in the hall. "My my, all this talk of revenge. I think just to be safe, you shall be exiled from the Pirates' Fortress and the surrounding land. The Pirate King has spoken."

Killian dropped his sword in surprise. "You? But a woman can't be Pirate King! It isn't right!" He looked at his guards desperately. "She won't be able to lead you as I have."

Ruth laughed. "Thank goodness for that. And once you leave, Killian, I want you to see more of the world. Perhaps you'll learn that a woman can be a leader as well as any man."

He raised his sword again, as if he intended to fight all of them, but more pirates suddenly marched into the great hall, all with their swords pointed at him.

"This is mutiny!" Killian screamed.

"Throw him out," Ruth demanded.

Two pirates came forward with a wooden bathtub, which they forced Killian to lie down in before heaving it out the window. He landed in the ocean with a giant splash.

"Good luck to you, Killian Jones," Ruth called out the window, "And may you hopefully come back a better and wiser man."

**Neverland—Present Day**

Before she knew it, the pirates had finished eating and everybody was getting up from the table. The pirate who had first captured them approached and said that he would show them to where they would spend the night. "Except for you two," he grunted while pointing to Emma and Hook. "The Pirate King will see you right now." He pulled the two aside, blindfolded them, and led them down another dark passageway.

"What have you gotten us into now, Emma Swan?" Hook's voice echoed in the darkness next to her.

"You must feel much honored to have a private audience with Her Majesty," the pirate leading them whispered. "It's not often that she grants them. 'Course, it's probably because she wants to personally disembowel you lot, what with blondie's display of shouting at the dinner table today and just the grind of having to look at Jones' ugly mug again." The sound of a door opening reverberated through the passage, and Emma felt herself being pushed into a room. "Now, just wait here, and she'll be with you soon." The sound of his fading footsteps resounded throughout the room, and as soon as Emma thought he was far enough away, she quickly pushed her blindfold off. Hook had already done the same, and together they glanced around the room.

"You know, this used to be my office." Hook said offhand. He acted like he didn't care, but there was a fire in his eyes that told Emma otherwise.

"You used to be the Pirate King? What happened? How did you become a rogue pirate?"

"It's a long story, and one that I don't care to tell right now."

"Oh." The two were silent for several seconds until another question came to Emma's mind. "What do you know about this mission that she wants us to go on?"

Hook smirked slightly. "The pirates share this land with the natives, who were here before us. They're a destructive lot and when I was Pirate King, I was able to see that they needed to be continuously fought back and put in their place. But when Ruth...when she became Pirate King, she introduced some foolish notions to the system, such as trying to befriend the natives. From the sidelines, I could see that it was doomed to end in catastrophe. And from what she said to us at dinner, I can see that I was right. She is sending you out because they won't recognize you and confuse you with her men. She probably wants us to give them some last-minute peace treaty."

The sound of approaching footsteps silenced the two, and then the Pirate King wearily walked into the room. She seemed different from the other time Emma had seen her—her face looked more lined, as if some occurrence between dinner and now had aged her considerably.

"You don't look good," Hook said in mock concern. "Perhaps you had better step down and let someone more capable take your place."

She ignored him and took a seat next to Emma. "I'm going to talk to him after I talk to you. I noticed that you recognized my moonstone."

"Moonstone?"

"Yes, a moonstone. What did you think it was? Anyway, do you know what it does?"

Hook gave Emma a look warning her not to say anything, but as Emma was currently at a dead-end with her search for Henry, she decided to trust the Pirate King. "I know what it does; it can transport the wearer to another world."

"Very good. Have you been there?"

"I have been there, once. But I lost my moonstone there, and also my memories."

Ruth nodded her head. "Yes. It's changed. It's been a very...odd place lately. And I'm not sure why." She unsheathed her sword and raised it up. "But I intend to find out why. And perhaps, you can help me. After you've delivered my message and gifts to the natives, of course. Then perhaps we could discuss my moonstone some more."

Emma fixed the Pirate King with her most serious look. "I believe my son is out there, in that other world, somewhere. If you could help me find him, I will do whatever you want me to do for you."

Ruth gave Emma a grave smile. "Thank you. And now I have something I want to show you—a map of the other world."

The older woman got out of her chair and went into a second room. Suddenly, something came in through the open window and came to a quivering halt in a wooden post just behind where Ruth had been sitting. Emma stared at it dumbfounded. It was an arrow fletched with bright orange and pink feathers. As she tried to collect her thoughts, the Pirate King walked back into the room, exclaiming "What in Neverland was that?" Hook took advantage of her surprise to spring up from his chair and ran over to Ruth while pulling something shiny from his belt, which he stuck into her.

Emma screamed as blood burst forth from her. "What are doing?!"

"Helping you get your son back! Quick! Take her necklace and run away from this place. I'll stay here and try to distract the guards."

Somebody was already frantically knocking on the door; probably a guard who had heard a loud thwunk along with shouting and thought he should investigate. Emma hesitated briefly before running over to Ruth's body and pulling the moonstone from her. "How do I escape from here?"

"There's a secret passageway behind that bookcase. It leads right into the great hall, where you should be able to find your friends. I wouldn't be too worried about being accused of murder if I were you—because of that arrow, the pirates will most likely think that some native killed her."

Emma looked at him with an appalled expression on her face. "You knew, didn't you? You knew that you could kill her and not be blamed!"

"You had better go now, before I stab you too."

Emma took one last frightened look at him before running to the bookcase. Right as she reached it, something suddenly appeared out of thin air between them—a human. Emma gasped in surprise. It was a boy about Henry's age, with dark brown hair, tan skin, and a moonstone around his neck.

"What did you do to my...to the Pirate King?!" he demanded to Emma.

"I'll explain later!" Emma said, making up her mind that he was coming with her. "Now, do you know how this secret passage works?"

Possibly it was the frantic look in her eyes, or it was the knocking on the door, but the boy pulled a book out without asking any more questions which triggered the bookcase to swing out and reveal a spiral set of stairs behind it. _I guess whoever built this room was banking on the hope that his or her enemies never watched any Scooby Doo when they were younger, _the very small section of Emma's brain that wasn't panicking thought.

They ran down the flight of stairs and then through a hallway until they got to the end. The boy pushed the wall out slightly and looked through. "I don't see anyone coming, so let's go." He ran toward the exit.

"Not yet!" Emma hissed, "I have to find my friends first!"

"There you are, Emma! Where's Hook?" Emma turned in relief and saw Mary Margaret strolling toward her.

"Mary Margaret, thank goodness! Where is everybody? We have to leave now!"

"They're saying that some natives snuck in and murdered the Pirate King. Is it true? And who is that boy?"

"I'll explain later, after there are some miles between us and this place. Where's David. Ah, there he is. And Regina. Come on."

The five started running toward a door. They passed a few guards on the way running in the opposite direction, but luckily no one seemed to notice them. Once outside, Regina slowed down to a quick walk. "Oh no you don't," Emma scolded, "We have to keep going." She grabbed Regina's hand and started pulling her.

"Miss Swan, I am fully capable of running for myself."

Emma ignored her and kept pulling her forward, leading the group away from the fortress and toward the unknown.


	4. Stranger in Paradise

**3.04: Stranger in Paradise**

**Neverland—Present Day**

"I can hear them shouting again! They're coming!" Mary Margaret yelled.

Emma got to her feet as fast as her exhausted body would let her and prepared to lead the group further into the forest. They had been running all day, and whenever they thought they had finally put enough distance between them and the pirates, they would suddenly hear the pirates approaching.

"I thought you said that Hook told you we wouldn't be blamed for the murder?" David asked his daughter.

"He did," Emma panted, "But we now know that we can't exactly trust him."

"I can't go on any more. I must rest," Regina gasped while clutching her chest.

"We have to go on!" Emma urged her. "Just a little fur—aah!" The blonde hadn't been looking where she was going, and she suddenly found herself rolling down a steep incline.

"Emma, where are you going?" Mary Margaret called after her. The group tried to look down to where she had fallen, but the vegetation was too thick.

After a minute, Emma yelled back "I'm okay! And they say it is safe here—the pirates won't find us. You guys should take the stairs though."

"The stairs?" David repeated with a puzzled expression on his face.

"And who are they?" Mary Margaret said to no one in particular.

The strange boy who was with them started hunting around in the bushes. After a minute, he called the remaining three over. "The stairs are right here. Do not worry, I know what this is."

"What is it?" David asked. But the boy had already descended down the stairs.

David looked at Mary Margaret questionably.

"We have no choice but to trust him," Regina cut in coldly. "And Emma says it is safe, so let's go."

The three walked down the stairs into a brightly lit encampment. Although new to Mary Margaret and David, it was a familiar sight to Regina. A giant tree in the middle of the tiny valley was covered with golden lights.

"Haven't I been here before?" Regina said to herself. "No, it's slightly different."

"It's a fairy dwelling," the boy told Regina. "They're scattered all over Neverland, and they only reveal themselves to outsiders when they choose to."

As if to confirm his words, two fairies appeared near the top of the tree's trunk and slowly floated down to the travelers.

"We have just spoken to Emma," a fairy with a green aura around her said, "And she told us that you need somewhere safe to hide from the pirates."

Emma then came out from behind the tree and joined her group. "I was telling them that we needed some time to recollect our thoughts and think up a new plan."

The two fairies beamed at the group. "My name is Ivy," the green fairy said, "And this is Kaleidas. We live here, and you are welcome to share our home for as long as you need."

"Well, I don't think we'll be able to fit in the tree," David announced.

Mary Margaret shushed him.

"Thank you," the boy said to the fairies, "We just need a little bit of time to discuss." He turned to Emma. "Now, I think you owe me an explanation of what in Neverland is going on!"

Emma stared at the youth and said "Me? You're the one who suddenly appeared right out of thin air, plus you also seem to have a moonstone around your neck which I'm mighty curious about."

"Is it true that the Pirate King is dead?" he asked softly.

Everyone looked at Emma to hear her response. Even the two fairies seemed to be listening in.

"Yes, it's true," she finally answered.

The boy quickly bowed his head and seemed to be holding back tears.

"Um, did you know her?" Emma dumbly asked.

He nodded. "She was my grandmother."

Everyone looked shocked. Emma bent down slightly so she was eye-level with him. "What's your name?"

He sniffled. "Samuel."

"Samuel, your grandmother was killed by someone that I thought I knew, and I promise you he will not get away with it. And while you are with us, I also promise I will take care of you as if you were my own son. By the way, you look as if you were about Henry's age. Do you know anything about where he might have gone? I know his location has to do with the moonstone."

"How do you know about the moonstones? I thought Grandmother and I had the only pair in existence."

All at once, Samuel's sudden appearance in Ruth's office made sense in Emma's mind. "You were in that other land, weren't you?! And Ruth...Ruth must have been your anchor. She's your grandmother, so she would be able to anchor you. And when Hook killed her, you must have automatically come right back!"

Regina chose that moment to sweep between the two and pull Samuel into a one-armed embrace. "Please excuse Emma's blundersome lack of tact. She purposely chose not be around children for most of her life and still doesn't know how to act around them."

Emma glared at Regina. During the pause that followed, she heard David whisper "I can't believe that Captain Hook killed the Pirate King. That seems so out of character for him!"

Mary Margaret whispered back "I know, dear, but this is a fanfiction, so there has to be some character assassinations in order for the plot to progress. Besides, he is a pirate, and I'm sure there will eventually be a reason for it."

Samuel pulled himself free of Regina and looked gravely at Emma. "There is nothing for me in my home anymore. My own people rejected me, my parents abandoned me, and the pirates never trusted me. My grandmother was the only family I had, and now I have no one. I will go with you."

"Your grandmother died while trying to help me get my son back. Will you first tell me all you know about the moonstones?"

"Grandmother Ruth told me that my mother and father shared a pair, and my father would occasionally travel to the other world, using my mother as his anchor. Shortly before I was born, my father left and never came back. But before he left, he gave my mother his moonstone. After I was born, my mother soon left to look for my father, giving both moonstones to my grandmother. She also never came back. My grandmother locked up the moonstones and swore never to use them again. But when I grew older and heard stories about my parents, I thought that perhaps Fin held the answer—"

"Fin?" Emma asked.

"The name of the town that the moonstone leads to. I thought that if I traveled there, someone there might know where my parents had gone. And I was half right, because my mother is there, even though she doesn't have a moonstone. I saw her during my first visit, and I know what she looks like because there are paintings of her in my home. But she did not seem to recognize me, and every time I called her, she ran away."

"Did you ever see me there?" Emma asked. "Because just a couple of days ago, I traveled to Fin to search for my son, but ended up losing the moonstone and the memories of my journey."

"No, I never saw you."

"Wait a minute, what ever happened to Mr. Gold?" David suddenly asked with a puzzled expression on his face.

Regina rolled her eyes. "It appears that we left him behind in the Pirate's Fortress. But not to worry; I'm sure he and Hook are fighting their way out even as we speak. Or, more accurately, fighting each other."

Emma ignored them. "Samuel, this is very important. Will you give your moonstone to me so that I can travel to Fin again? I will also try to find your mother."

"I guess it won't work for me anymore now that Grandmother can't anchor me, so you can temporarily borrow it until you find your son. But who will wear Grandmother's moonstone to anchor you?"

Emma looked like she would rather die than say it, so Regina stepped in. "Emma is magically bonded to me, so I will wear your grandmother's moonstone and become her anchor."

"Oh, you two are married," Samuel said with a look of dawning comprehension. "So that's why you bickered so much on the run here."

Emma and Regina both blushed.

"All right," Mary Margaret uncomfortably interrupted the silence, "Since it is getting dark out, I think that Emma should wait until morning to leave."

The group nodded their agreement, and the two fairies brought out soft leafy bedding for the group to sleep on. Emma wondered if she should sleep next to Regina in order to keep up appearances for Samuel, and she compromised by awkwardly lying down close to her but with still enough space to fit another person between them.

**Storybrooke—Present Day**

The sun was nearly down behind the houses and trees and yet Belle worked steadily on through Mr. Gold's plethora of books. Some of the books were written completely in different languages, yet none matched the language that the cloaking spell was written in. Other books were devoted to writing and deciphering codes. One was titled Owhay otay Ecipherday Omplexcay Odescay. "If only if it was that simple," Belle said to herself. Flipping through the books, she saw nothing that would aid her.

"Are you somewhere in here, Belle?"

"What is it now?" Belle huffed crossly. It seemed like whenever she really got into the flow of going through the books, somebody came to interrupt her.

"I wanted to apologize for my behavior during the elections for mayor."

Belle froze. The person walking through the door was not Ashley, Leroy, or any of the other seemingly hundreds of Storybrooke residents who wanted to console her for losing the position of mayor to Granny. "I mean, these are the people who voted against me!" Belle had finally said to herself after witnessing Jefferson and Dr. Whale have a slapping fight over who would go through the study door first to give Belle his homemade 'We Still Appreciate You' card.

It was Mother Superior. "I hope you know that I was so caught up in the excitement of the campaign that I am quite unaccountable for my actions."

Belle spluttered in disbelief. "Unaccountable for your actions? You practically turned me into a beast!"

"Well, I turned you back afterward, didn't I?"

Belle looked at Mother Superior suspiciously. "Why did you want Ashley to be mayor so much anyway?"

She looked down at the ground. "Oh, that. Well, once we got our memory back after Emma broke the curse, I suddenly remembered something about Ashley from when she lived in the Enchanted Forest, and I thought she might be a good fit for mayor."

"You mean that she was married to a prince?"

"Um, yeah, something like that. But I'm starting to think that my assumption was wrong about Ashley, so it's just as well that Granny is mayor."

"All right." Belle started flipping through the books again for a few minutes in silence. Mother Superior continued to watch her. "Is there something more that you want?" Belle asked when the strain of ignoring her became too much.

"I have heard from a few people that you have been working on translating a magical spell for the past few days without any luck. Maybe I could help you."

"No thank you," Belle said firmly, her distrust of the nun preventing her from accepting any sorely needed help. "I am getting along just fine by myself."

"Oh, I've no doubt of that," Mother Superior said while employing a very Regina-like laugh. "I just thought that I could help speed up the process."

"Like I said, no thank you. The process is speedy enough as it is."

Mother Superior fixed Belle with a beady stare. "Belle, this is something that Mr. Gold gave you, right?"

"Yes," Belle said hesitantly.

"Then it must be important to enact the spell as quickly as possible. Give it here."

Mother Superior snapped her fingers and the parchment with the spell flew out of Belle's hands and into hers.

"Hey!" Belle protested angrily. "Mr. Gold trusted me and me alone to cloak the town!"

"Oh-ho. So it's a cloaking spell, is it? Well, it's in a language that even I don't recognize, so we're going to have to continue to do things the slow Belle-way. Still, I can help you with that." She laid both hands down on the parchment, closed her eyes, and started muttering.

Belle watched in fascination as a cabinet tucked in the back corner of the room started rattling. She excitedly ran over to it and pried its doors open. Inside were whirring gadgets, bottles of murky substances, and books that she had not looked through. One of the books was glowing a bright and pulsing gold.

"Take the glowing book down. The language in it matches the language on the parchment."

Belle did as she was told. It was a heavy leather tome with the same unknown language engraved on the cover except for one corner, which had the word 'Atlantica.'

"Atlantica. I wonder what that is?" Belle mused.

"Or where it is. Now let's get that spell translated!"

"No! I said I don't need your help. If you're so powerful, why don't you create a cloaking spell for the town yourself?"

Mother Superior drew herself up to her full height, which still wasn't very much. "Well, Belle, if you knew anything at all about magic, you would know that it doesn't work that way."

"For you," Belle muttered.

"Well, I never!" the nun hissed angrily. "Have fun trying to figure out what it says by yourself. I'm leaving."

**Neverland—In the Past**

The Blue Fairy wearily trudged up the spiral steps and lugged her suitcases through the door of the tree. "I'm here!" she hollered, "Is anyone going to greet me?"

"Welcome to Neverland, Blue!" Ivy glided into the room and gave her friend a hug. "How was the journey over? Not bad, I trust."

"Oh, you know how it is—there's always turbulence and swear-swans in the intergalactic pathway from the Enchanted Forest."

"Well, at least you made it safely. And guess what? Linnea is visiting here from the Enchanted Forest too!"

"Linnea? Oh, not that troublemaking rascal with the golden locks!" the Blue Fairy cried in mock despair.

Ivy smiled. "The one and only. Though now she is more widely known as the peace-bringing warrior. And if she ever hears you calling her Goldilocks again, she'll probably whop you over the head with her sword."

The two friends laughed and then set about to bringing each other up to date with the news from each other's home-worlds. After a half hour, the sound of a door opening and slamming could be heard in the tree house.

"And that must be Linnea and Tinker Bell back from a day of saving the world," Ivy told Blue.

A young fairy wearing a flowing red gown flew into the room and announced "Please stand and welcome the hero of time, the savior of worlds, the—"

"That's enough, Kaleidas." A blonde woman shuffled into the room with her back bent so her head wouldn't tough the ceiling. Years earlier, the room had been magically expanded so Linnea as a child could comfortably stand in the room, but the fairies had forgotten that she would get even taller as an adult. As she spent most of her time now in the Enchanted Forest, the fairies felt it wasn't worth the effort to expand the room even more just to accommodate her on her brief visits.

A fairy in a green dress flew into the room behind Linnea.

"And her sidekick, Tinker Bell!" Kaleidas yelled.

Tinker Bell shot Kaleidas an annoyed look and sat down on the giant couch next to Linnea.

"Hello, Linnea," the Blue Fairy said pleasantly. "What brings you to Neverland this time?"

"A confidential source sent me news that the pirates and the natives were going at it again. It seems like someone is stirring up a conflict every couple of months which brings me back to Neverland."

"Well, we're always happy to see you."

The fairies had found the human-baby Linnea abandoned by the side of the ocean years ago. They had taken her in and raised her as their own. She had grown up side by side with Tinker Bell, and the two had been the dearest of friends and also the greatest mischief-makers that Neverland had ever seen. But as Linnea got older, she had assumed more serious responsibilities, which usually meant resolving arguments between the pirates and the people who were native to the land. Once she was twenty years old she had traveled to the Enchanted Forest, where she ended up eventually staying and raising a family. But now that her daughter was older, Linnea had resumed her practice of traveling to other realms to bring peace.

"So, what's going on out there anyway?" the Blue Fairy casually asked.

Linnea sighed. "Just the usual. Baldy-Red is claiming that a 'savage' drilled holes in one of his ships and he wants all the pirates to go to war against them. What he refuses to realize, however, is that all the evidence points to him damaging the ship himself on rocks. He was probably drunk."

Kaleidas laughed. "I'm so happy I'm a fairy and don't have to deal with humans. However do you stand it, Blue?"

"It was a choice I made willingly—to give up my seclusion and help people in need in the Enchanted Forest."

A fifth fairy suddenly flew in through the open door and addressed Linnea. "The Pirate King wants to see you now. She thinks she's discovered some new information on the seemingly cursed perpetual state of war between the pirates and the natives that she wants to share with you."

Linnea carefully got up from the couch and maneuvered her way over to the extra-large door that had been built for her. "My work here is never done. Hopefully I'll be back here before sundown."

"Can I go with you?" Tinker Bell asked.

"Of course you can. You were my partner in crime when we were children, and now you can help me achieve the opposite."

The remaining fairies waved them goodbye.

**Fin—Present Day**

"Are you all right? When I saw you lying so still by the pond, I was half afraid that you were already dead or something!"

The words, full of concern, slowly trickled to Emma's mind through the addled mush that the journey over had caused. Had it been this difficult the last time? Emma couldn't remember. She slowly sat up once she had regained full use of her body and found herself looking into the face of a young woman with long curly brown hair.

"You poor thing. You must have fallen into the pond. Luckily the waves pushed you back out."

Emma shook her head in an attempt to clear the discombobulated wisps of thoughts from her head. "Er, where am I? Am I in Fin?"

She laughed sweetly. "Of course this is Fin. This was Fin before you fell into the pond too, silly. Come on, I'll get you dried up. My name is Christine, by the way. She extended an arm to Emma to help her up.

"I'm Emma." She suddenly remembered her mission. "Henry! Is there a boy named Henry anywhere here?!"

Christine looked puzzled. "There's no one in town with that name. Now come, we must get you dry before you catch cold." She grabbed Emma's hand and started pulling her. Looking around at her surroundings, Emma decided to follow. The pond appeared to be in a small space that was completely enclosed by tall walls except for a tiny walkway in one corner. There was also a bridge across the pond at one side that connected to a path that led to an inconspicuous door in another corner.

"Oh look, I dropped my laundry when I saw you lying there like you were half dead. Oops. I'll just quickly pick it up. I can wash it some other time."

Emma waited impatiently while the other woman tossed sheets into a basket before they continued their walk. While she waited, she realized that contrary to what Christine had said, Emma's clothes were completely dry, and even if she had fallen into the pond, there also weren't any waves that would automatically push her back out.

"You're not from around here, right?" Christine asked while they walked. "Did you come from Out Of Town?"

"Yeah, something like that," Emma replied. "I've been here before, just a few days ago. Do you recognize me at all?"

Christine looked at a loss. "No, I've never seen you before."

"Well, somebody kidnapped my son, Henry, and somebody else tipped me off that he was here."

"That's horrible! That reminds me of...never mind. I haven't seen any new boys around, but if I do, I'll let you know."

They exited the pond and Emma found herself in a wide-open town square with a giant clock tower in the middle. "That clock!" Emma exclaimed, "I remember it chiming midnight the last time I was here!"

"Well, most clocks do," Christine answered while giving Emma an odd look.

The pair cut diagonally across the square before walking up a ramp and through an archway into another part of town. Emma was then pulled through a door with the words The Saucy Kettle Inn engraved above it.

"This is where I live. My family owns the inn," Christine informed Emma. "You're welcome to stay as long as you want. Usually we're very busy during this time of the year, but a lot of people have fled because of the upcoming catastrophe.

"Upcoming catastrophe?" Emma asked in confusion.

"The astronomer Sordid has warned that in three days' time, the moon will strike Fin. Already you can see it hanging low in the sky.

Emma nervously glanced out a window and saw that Christine was right; even in broad daylight the moon was more visible than the sun.

"Are people doing anything about it?" Emma asked; her current worries about Henry suddenly forgotten in the face of this newest threat.

"Well, a lot of people have already evacuated the town. That's why it seems so empty. But Sordid said that he plans to stop it from falling with magic."

"Sordid knows enough magic to stop the moon from falling?"

"He claims to. I know that in his time he was a very powerful sorcerer, so I have complete trust in him."

Her answer soothed Emma's worries somewhat. She doubted that Regina or even Mr. Gold had enough magical strength to achieve that particular act, and if the moon fell on Fin in three days, Henry would most likely be killed. But if Sordid was as powerful as Christine claimed, he might also be able to help her find Henry.

The inn door opened, and a strange looking man in gladiator sandals ran in. "Mail! Mail for Christine!"

"Oh, I got a letter!" Christine said with surprise. She took the offered letter from him. "Now, who could this be from?"

"It's from..." He looked at Emma suspiciously. "It's from You-know-who."

Christine gasped. "You mean you found him?!"

The postman nodded and said "I cannot tell you anymore. Good day." He quickly ran out of the building.

"What was that all about?" Emma asked her new acquaintance.

"It...It's nothing. Forget about it."

Christine seemed determined to avoid eye contact with Emma, so she decided to change the subject. "So, where does this Sordid live? I think he could perhaps help me find Henry."

"He lives just outside of town in his astral observatory. But just to warn you, he's very temperamental. I wouldn't get my hopes up about him if I were you."

Christine gave Emma better detailed instructions to the observatory, and Emma thanked her and left.

**Neverland—In the Past**

Linnea quickly walked through the corridors of the Pirates' Fortress with Tinker Bell flying at her side. She had traversed the hallways more than once in the past, and by now the pirates respected and even somewhat feared her enough to leave her alone.

"What kind of information do you think the Pirate King wants to share with you?" Tinker Bell asked her.

"I'm not sure, but I have a feeling it's more serious than another Baldy-Red problem."

The pair stopped in front of a stately wooden door and Linnea quickly knocked. As they waited, a door that was ajar across the hallway from them quickly closed, but not before Linnea got a glimpse of a man who had been staring at them from the doorway.

"Hmm, I wonder what that was about," she asked her friend.

"What what was about?" Tinker Bell said with some confusion.

"Didn't you see that man over there? Oh, never mind."

She heard the sound of footsteps approaching the door, and it opened to reveal a middle-aged woman.

"Thank you for coming, Linnea," Ruth said gravely. "Please, come in. Your friend too."

Linnea knew that Ruth had only just been appointed Pirate King a year ago and was still having some trouble earning every pirate's respect, even though as a group they had agreed that she was to be Pirate King. Personally, Linnea liked Ruth and thought that her wisdom was a better fit for the role than the previous King's violent nature had been. In addition, Ruth's goal was to have lasting peace between her pirates and the natives, which would mean less work for Linnea.

Ruth sat down at her desk and started pulling books out from a shelf. "I've been going through some records of history, and I've found more and more evidence to back up the fact that there _was_ once stable peace between the two main groups of people in Neverland."

"So, what changed?" Linnea asked with curiosity. Tinker Bell listened patiently by her side.

"These records speak of a town that used to exist in the center of Neverland whose citizens—both pirate folk and natives—were able to exist peacefully side by side. Until the day that the town got blown up."

"What? An entire town got blown up? Who was the culprit? Was it a pirate?"

"Nobody seems to know who did it. The books say that one day the town was operating as usual, and the next day there was only a crater."

Tinker Bell suddenly perked up. "All that was left was a crater?"

Ruth nodded.

Tinker Bell looked thoughtful. "Oh, that's interesting."

"So we know that it is possible for there to be peace," Linnea stated. "And do you know what happened? Probably each group of people thought that the other group inflicted the devastation, and they probably told their children about it, and it kept getting passed down through the generations until both groups thought that they had always hated each other."

"Not only that, but I sent several of my magical scouts to the location of the crater when I learned about it, and they reported back to me that there were traces of bad magic around it, as if it were cursed."

Linnea looked Ruth straight in the eye. "Are you telling me this because you believe the bad magic is a curse that is causing continuous strife in Neverland?"

Ruth nodded. "That's exactly what I'm wondering. And I want to send you because I trust you to get the job done. And if anyone can withstand the curse, I know it would be you."

Linnea stood up quickly and marched to the door. "I'm right on it."

Tinker Bell sped after her friend. "Don't even think about going without me!"

**Neverland—Present Day**

"It's been a long time. Shouldn't she be back yet?" David paced around the fairy's tiny valley with uneasiness lining his face.

"It's only been an hour, dear. I don't think Emma's had enough time to find Henry yet," Mary Margaret reassured him.

"I just feel so helpless having to stay in this valley while Emma is out facing who knows what kind of danger."

"Well, Emma has taken care of herself for most of her life," Mary Margaret said guiltily, "And she did break the curse by herself."

Ivy gently flew over to Mary Margaret and landed on her shoulder. "Is there anything else we can do to help your friend? I think she's getting worse."

Regina had once again been struck by a fever and chills as soon as Emma had left her. The fairies had tried to help her with their healing herbs, but so far nothing had seemed to work.

"Nah, just leave her," Mary Margaret said complacently.

"Was your grandmother affected like this whenever she was anchoring you to Neverland?" David asked Samuel.

He shook his head. "Not that I'm aware of. I don't think Regina's symptoms are because of the moonstones."

"Well, what else would cause it?" Mary Margaret said testily.

David turned to Ivy as if he had just had an epiphany. "Hey, you're a fairy! Do you know a Tinker Bell by any chance?"

Kaleidas flew out and joined her wife. "Tinker Bell? We haven't heard anything from her for years."

"Oh." He looked disappointed for a moment before his face lit up again. "Do you know anything about the moonstones?"

"The moonstones? You mean those stones on the necklaces that you were talking about just over an hour ago with the boy? We have never heard of them until now."

Samuel approached David. "They're top secret. I wasn't even aware that anyone knew about them besides my family until yesterday."

David sighed with exasperation. "Why does everything have to be so difficult?"

"You think you have it bad?!" From where she was laying, Regina chucked a rock at him.

**Fin—Present Day**

Emma exited the inn and immediately walked under one of the archways that divided the several sections of town. She found herself in the town square again. _Christine didn't mention this. Maybe it was a left from the inn instead of a right. _She was about to turn around when a strange sight caught her eye. A group of people were gathering in the square, which was a stark contrast to its ghost-town appearance earlier that morning. _I wonder what's going on. _Emma curiously walked further into the town square to investigate. The crowd was grouped around a wooden framework with two holes bored into the wood.

"Save our town! Bring her out!" Somebody yelled.

Two men in armor walked a blonde woman over to the wooden device and secured her hands in the two holes. Rather than looking scared, she merely looked slightly apprehensive.

Emma thought back to her high school lessons of medieval torture. She was pretty sure that the stocks were only used for public humiliation.

"What's happening," she asked the man standing next to her. "Are people just going to laugh at her?"

"Aw no. They've just announced that Sordid's gonna chop her hands off in order to appease the moon."

Emma looked outraged. "What?! Sordid's going to chop her hands off?!"

"That's what I just said."

The blonde woman turned her head to the crowd for a second, and Emma caught a glimpse of a most familiar face. It was Ashley.

"Ashley!" Emma yelled. "Wait, I'm coming! I won't let them do this to you!" Emma quickly started fighting her way over to the stocks. _This is terrible. Sordid must be a fraud, and the townspeople are willing to accept violence as an act of magic. _However, once she got closer, the guards pushed her back. Suddenly, something caught her eye. A man was standing on top of the clock tower with an amused expression on his face. His face looked extremely familiar; so much that Emma was sure that she had seen him before. Forgotten feelings of dread and anxiety started swirling in the pit of Emma's stomach.

A scream suddenly rent the air and jerked Emma's mind back to the situation at hand. With horror, she saw an old man holding two bloody hands in the air triumphantly. Ashley had fainted and was being carried away.

"No!" Emma screamed. She ran toward the two men carrying the blonde.

"She'll be all right," one of the men said when he saw Emma's frantic look. "Because of her noble sacrifice, all of Fin has been saved from the moon."

"You really think that'll save you?" Emma cried with despair. But the men ignored her and carried Ashley into a building. A guard stationed outside prevented Emma from joining her.

Emma kicked the wall in frustration.

"Hehehehehehehehe." An entertained laugh echoed down from the top of the clock tower, instantly diverting Emma's thoughts from Ashley.

'Who _is_ that person?' she said to herself.

Emma carefully looked around to make sure that no one was watching before walking over to the clock tower and slipping through one of the doors. She had a finicky feeling clawing into the back of her brain that she had seen that man during her first journey to Fin.

The inside of the clock tower was shrouded with darkness. Scant bars of sunlight that had been reflected off of the moon and through the wooden cracks of the structure made up all the light that Emma had available. She carefully inched her way to a wooden stairway and began to make her up. Once she got to the top, a soft rustling noise filled what had before been silence. Emma stopped and listened to pinpoint the location of the sound. It was coming from a door at the end of the hallway. Emma tiptoed down it and carefully opened the door. Inside appeared to be a boy about Henry's age, adorably nestled in a bed of hay. His back was turned to Emma, and in the near darkness he looked strangely translucent. Emma opened the door further to get a closer look, and in her haste, the door made a creaking noise. The boy quickly turned to face Emma, and she almost screamed. Where his eyes should have been were just two glowing white orbs. He leaped up at Emma and then actually seemed to fly up and out of the clock tower. When full sunlight hit him, Emma could see that it wasn't a real boy at all, but one made out of a smoky blackness.

**Storybrooke—Present Day**

"—and when I asked her what she was doing, she snarled at me, like a wolf! I think there is something seriously wrong with her."

Belle paused from translating the manuscript and looked over at Leroy. "Well, maybe it's just that time of the month. You know, a full moon in the sky means Ruby turns into a wolf at night."

Leroy shook his head. "It's not a full moon tonight. I checked."

"Hmm. I guess I really don't know what her problem is. But because I'm her friend and your friend, I promise that I will check up on her as soon as the town is protected from intruders."

"Thanks Belle. And I just want you to know that you were my second choice for mayor."

Belle sighed. "Yeah, you've already told me that a couple of times. Now shoo, I have work to do."

Leroy shuffled out the study door, leaving Belle wishing that the lock on the door wasn't broken. It was difficult concentrating on translating the spell with half of Storybrooke traipsing on through every day. But her hard work was paying off. Belle had always been gifted at both reading and languages, and already she had almost all of the manuscript translated.

The Atlantican book seemed to be a guidebook for all sorts of subjects. What was currently most useful to Belle was the guide for deciphering the Atlantican language. There were also several spells written in the language, such as the cloaking spell that Belle was working on (she wondered if Mr. Gold had got it directly from this book) and a spell for transforming into other people. From what she could read of it, the transformation spell looked complicated; the user needed to have moderately strong magical powers and an article of clothing from the intended form. There were also descriptions of a strange underwater land unknown to Belle. The writer wrote of it from an archeological standpoint, as if the inhabitants had died long ago and all that was left to study were ruins.

Finally, she had deciphered as much of the manuscript as she could. There were four undecipherable lines at the end that looked as if they were in another foreign language, but that didn't worry Belle because they seemed to be magic words anyway. The rest appeared to be a riddle. Belle read through it with weary dismay. It looked as impossible to make head or tail of as it had in the Atlantican language.

_To forever hide_

_These two must coincide:_

_One needs peace:_

_Five I possess—my first is the shape of a scream_

_My second is hungry and fed by a stream_

_My third and fourth—vowels before the rest_

_And my fifth is the end of a town but the start of a nest_

_Two needs death:_

_Two sounds—one is the first noise of a salutation_

_Then there's a common word for painting and music fun_

_Bring them together _

_And say:_

_Masred rae a twees takisme _

_Lla remasred tusm akewa_

_Ton tihw erast ro a higs_

_Lla ginths eufaultib tusm edi_

**The Enchanted Forest—In the Past**

Linnea trudged wearily through the door of her Enchanted Forest house and smiled as her seven-year old daughter raced over to her. "Mom, you're back already!"

"Yes princess, I'm back already. Now let me have an hour of alone-time, and then we can have family-time."

Linnea was frustrated. Her hopes had been raised by the thought that perhaps there was a curse that was preventing the natives and the pirates from getting along. But closer examination of the crater had revealed that the bad magic was stale and not active. It may have been the agent of destruction for the town, but it certainly was not affecting anything anymore. In hindsight, she realized that there was not going to be a simple solution to such a complex problem. Luckily, with her solving the Baldy-Red problem, there was once again a temporary peace in Neverland that allowed Linnea to slip back home.

"But Mom, someone is here to see you!"

"What? Who is here to see me?"

"He's in the living room waiting."

Linnea curiously entered her living room before stopping in surprise. The mysterious man that she had seen in the doorway opposite Ruth's office was sitting in a rocking chair and looking up at her quite calmly. Now that she could see him better, she realized that he looked familiar, as if she had seen him years before.

"Don't tell me. You were one of Killian Jones' men, right? Or no, you were one of the pirates giving him trouble, weren't you."

He smiled at her, his brown eyes warm and gentle. "What I once was does not matter anymore. But I did not come here to talk about myself. I was told that I needed to give this to you." He pulled a small leather bag out of his pocket, opened it, and withdrew two necklaces. On each one was threaded a tiny stone that resembled a pearl.

"What are those? And who told you to give them to me?" Linnea's hand started slowly inching toward her sword. _Is he trying to trick me?_

"Are you not the person they call Linnea the Savior?" he asked innocently.

"I am," she answered while realizing that he could probably be trusted. Not many people knew of that title, of the path that had been chosen for her. And those that instinctually saw it were always of the good.

"Then you must take these. There is a town far far away from here and the people there need your help. Use this stone to travel over," he held up one of the necklaces, "And give this stone to somebody you are related to so you are anchored, like your daughter. It won't hurt her."

Upon seeing Linnea's hesitant and slightly scared look, he said reassuringly "Linnea, the people need you. You must save them."

**Fin—Present Day**

Emma hurried back to the Saucy Kettle Inn, all thoughts of seeing Sordid gone after the debacle in the town square and the confrontation with the strange shadow boy.

Christine was arguing with a handsome young man in the lobby; he looked angry and frustrated while Christine looked stressed and worn-out. But when Christine saw Emma standing hesitantly in the doorway, she smiled and waved her over.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Emma said.

"No, not at all. I don't believe you two have met yet. Raoul, this is Emma. Emma, this is Raoul, my fiancé. He was just leaving."

Emma noticed that Christine practically pushed Raoul out the door. "Is anything wrong?"

"Wrong? No! Nothing can be wrong today. A person passing told me several minutes ago that Sordid has used his wonderful magic to make a sacrifice that would appeal to the moon and permanently halt its descent! I wonder who was chosen."

Emma stared at her in amazement. "Wonderful magic? He maimed Ashley!"

"Ashley? Who's Ashley? Still, if what you say is true, I'm glad he chose someone that I don't know. I would feel awfully guilty about having two hands if one of my friends didn't."

Emma was starting to think that Christine was a selfish ditz, but still, she was the only person that Emma had met in the town besides the angry Raoul and the scary shadow child.

"Listen, Christine," Emma began, "Is there someone with magic who can help me besides Sordid? I've learned that he is...um...busy."

Christine's face lit up. "Well, you could always try the Great Fairy!"

"Great. Where can I find her?"

"She lives in the north section of town. But I have to warn you, she doesn't appear to just anybody. And the area is mostly deserted because a strange and terrifying beast roams there at night."

Emma quickly glanced out the window. "I think I'll be okay. The sun hasn't set yet." She suddenly remembered her promise to Samuel to find his mother. "Christine, have you seen a strange woman around lately, like one who almost seems like she has come from a different world?" Emma realized that she had no idea what the woman looked like, so she described her based on Samuel's looks. "She probably has dark brown hair and brown eyes."

Christine giggled. "Well, if it wasn't for the brown hair and brown eyes part, I would think that you were talking about Linnea. But Raoul did say that there was a pesky woman that fits that description skulking around in the west side of town; he ran into her this morning when he was over there conducting business. Why? Do you think she will help you find Henry?"

Emma was in no mood to explain everything. "Yeah, something like that. I'll just be going then. Thanks for your help."

Emma walked out the door and decided to visit the north section of town first so she would be sure to finish before the sun set. She was starting to get more familiar with the layout of the town, and so this time she knew to take a left out of the inn to avoid the town square. From there, it was a quick walk to the archway that said "North Side." As she walked, she noticed with an eerie feeling that there appeared to be no way out of the town. Tall walls completely stretched along the perimeter, and all the walkways and arches merely led to another section of town, whether it was north, south, east, or west.

Emma let out a gasp of appreciation as she entered the north side because it was simply beautiful. Vibrant flowers and lush fruit trees were scattered willy-nilly around so as to make up a chaotic garden, though the effect was pleasing rather than disorienting. Stone statues of fantastic beasts stood as eternal guardians of the garden, and there were even a few fountains at odd intervals.

_I wonder where the Great Fairy will be. Probably somewhere in the garden. _She began to slowly stroll among the plants while keeping an eye out for anything that resembled a fairy. As she did this, she noticed with some nervousness that the sun was now behind the walls, meaning that her time in the north of town was almost up.

Suddenly, she saw someone walking through the garden near to where she was. Blonde hair and heavily bandaged arm stumps told Emma that it was the woman who had been at the center of the grisly display earlier that day. She stopped next to a fruit tree and Emma was able to get a better view of her face than she had earlier. The shout of 'Ashley' died on Emma's lips as she realized with a jolt that the woman was not Ashley but just someone who looked remarkably like her.

The woman lifted her face up to a pear tree and a fairy suddenly floated over and landed on one of the boughs. The fairy's weight was enough to make the branch bend downward toward the woman, and she was able eat from a pear that was hanging on the tree without having to lift her arms.

Emma slowly sneaked closer to get closer to the fairy without frightening it off. As she neared them, she could hear a high tinkling noise coming from the fairy followed by a low whisper from the woman. Emma strained her ears to listen.

"Every time I come here after having to withstand unimaginable torture, and you are always here to comfort me in this little garden of paradise, my friend."

This was followed by the jingling noise, as if the fairy operated like a tiny bell.

The woman sighed. "I wish you could remember this, Tinker Bell."

_Tinker Bell? _Emma quickly burst from her hiding and yelled "Tinker Bell, you have to tell me how to find Henry! I did as you said and married Regina, but I still can't find him! Is he still in danger?!"

It wasn't clear who was more surprised to see Emma, the fairy or the woman. Both stared at her in shocked alarm for a few seconds before the woman said "You shouldn't be here. The sun is nearly down and the monster will be out soon."

"I know about that; it's just that—"

Tinker Bell started chiming again.

"Wait. I think she has something she has to tell you."

Emma leaned forward eagerly. "Yes?"

Tinker Bell picked up a tiny twig and started writing in the dirt.

"She says...that...she was wrong...the boy is not here yet...still in Neverland."

"What?!" Emma exclaimed indignantly at the fairy. "I go through all this trouble of...of having to marry Regina, for crying out loud, and now you tell me that you miscalculated? Great, just great."

The woman looked at Tinker Bell with confusion. "How do you know all of this? I thought you were caught in the trap along with the other townspeople."

But Emma did not have enough time to find out what trap the woman was referring to, because she suddenly heard a low growling noise behind her.

"Look out! It's here!" the blonde yelled.

Emma quickly grabbed the moonstone in her palm and concentrated on Regina and Neverland.

* * *

Author's note: I know it seems like they're back where they started in the beginning of chapter 2, but don't worry, this had a purpose and I do know where I'm going with this. Also, virtual cupcakes to the readers who know what town Fin is based on.


	5. And the Moon Grows Dimmer

**3.05: And the Moon Grows Dimmer**

**Neverland—Present Day**

Emma's journey back to Neverland was painful—far worse than the journey to Fin had been. A freezing sensation clawed at her shoulders and made Emma think for a second that the beast from North Fin had grabbed on to her and was hitching a ride to Neverland. Fortunately, when she finally opened her eyes there was no sign of a monster.

However, what she did see was perhaps even worse. Rather than appearing in the fairies' valley, Emma found herself in a dark room. A strange muffled noise greeted her and she saw what appeared to be several bodies tied up around the room. Upon closer examination, she saw that it was her four companions.

"Mmm mmm mmmmmmm!" Mary Margaret bleated through her bonds. Her hands were held above her head by ropes that stretched to the ceiling and forced her to remain in a standing position.

Emma quickly ran to her mother and started untying her. Before she could finish, she heard the sound of someone approaching. Emma frantically looked around the room for a place to hide and saw a heavy wooden chair in one corner. She slid behind it and peeked out to see who had captured her friends.

An elderly man walked into the room and surveyed his captives. "So, are you ready to talk yet?"

Mary Margaret, David, Regina, and Samuel all looked at him with wide and clueless eyes.

"Not yet? Well, we'll see if another hour of hanging there will loosen your tongues."

As soon as she was sure that he was really gone, Emma scampered out from behind the chair and started untying Mary Margaret again. The situation brought to her mind the time in Storybrooke when she found Mary Margaret bound and gagged in Jefferson's house.

"Ooh! Hurry up Emma before they come back!" Mary Margaret whispered once Emma took her gag out.

"Who was that? And what are you doing here?" Emma asked her as began untying David.

"They're natives. When we were waiting for you in the fairies' valley, smoke suddenly started to fill it. Thinking that there was a forest fire, we quickly climbed out of the valley and were caught by the natives. They had started the fire in order to drive us out so they could capture us."

"But why?" Emma asked.

"It's an old trick," explained Samuel once he was free. "A fairy dwelling cannot be seen if the fairies don't wish it to be seen, but the natives probably watched as we disappeared into the valley, which meant that they knew where our general location was. From there, it was simple to build a fire and smoke everyone out."

Mary Margaret nodded in agreement. "We even carried Regina out because she was feeling ill."

By that time, Regina was the only person left to untie, and Emma noticed that her hands were fastened so that they were almost touching the ceiling.

"Her sickness prevented her from struggling like the rest of us," David explained to Emma, "Which is how they were able to tie her so far up."

Emma dragged the chair over so she could stand on it and reach Regina's bonds. She quickly untied the ropes and the two women fell to the floor together.

"Oomph!" Emma grunted as all of Regina's weight landed on her. The fall knocked the wind from her and she laid on the floor in a daze, which she quickly snapped out of when Regina's hand connected with the side of Emma's head.

"Ouch! What was that for?!" Emma asked accusingly as she pushed the brunette off of her.

"That's for making me feel so ill whenever you leave!"

"I left to get our son back! And I obviously came back to you, right?!"

"Keep it down or they'll hear us!" Mary Margaret hissed at the pair. But it was too late; the door quickly opened and the elderly native stood in the doorway with a spear in his hand.

Emma held her hands up to show she was unarmed. "We don't want any trouble here. My friends and I just want to leave."

He called a younger man into the room and they both pointed their spears at the five. "We know you came to Neverland in order to stir up trouble by killing the Pirate King and replacing her with the dreaded previous King, and now we want some information."

"We don't know anything," Mary Margaret gasped.

"We'll see about that!" The younger man grabbed Regina, dragged her into the center of the room, and held a knife at her throat. "You!" he nodded at Emma, "Tell us all you know about Jones' plans. If you stay silent, she gets it." He emphasized his point by caressing Regina's neck with the knife.

But a different thought was distracting Emma. "What makes you think that her life is worth more to me than information...not that I know anything!" she quickly added.

He looked surprised at the unrelated question. "But you care for her, do you not? I saw the way you glanced at her just now when you were on the floor."

Emma bristled. "Yeah it was a glance of loathing! In case you didn't notice she had just smacked me in return for untying her."

Mary Margaret lightly elbowed Emma. "This isn't the time to argue about that."

Emma looked at the two men pleadingly. "You have to believe us. We had nothing to do with the death of the Pirate King and none us knew about Hook's plan."

They looked at her closely. "Very well, I believe you," the older man said. "But what are you doing in Neverland? And why are you traveling with _him_?" He pointed at Samuel.

"I'm helping her find her son," Samuel said indignantly.

"He was taken from me and brought to this world," Emma informed them. "Do you know anything about it?"

The two men looked at each other knowingly. "They're looking for the Witch," the younger one said to the other.

"What witch? Do you know something?" Emma asked excitedly.

The younger native nodded. "Just a few days ago, our scouts watched as two strangers carried a boy into the Witch's lair. We did not know who the boy was, but if your son is missing, it was probably your son."

Regina broke out of her captor's grasp. "Was he all right?! We must go to him now!"

"It is a whole day's journey away. But we will take you there." He nodded at Emma and said "You remind me of someone, someone who used to walk between worlds and bring peace."

David looked at her proudly. "Well, Henry did say that she was the savior."

Regina rolled her eyes. "All right, are we going or what?"

**The Enchanted Forest—In the Past**

A heavy fog hung over the darkest section of the Enchanted Forest and shrouded the trees in its veil. All was silent in the woods because humans and animals tended to avoid the area—the former because of rumors of a resident evil, and the latter because of known certainty of a resident evil.

Suddenly, a tiny speckled bird broke through the cover of the fog and fell exhausted to the ground. It had flown many miles that night in order to put as much distance between itself and Rumplestiltskin as possible, and as it lay sprawled on the floor of the forest, it slowly started to transform back into a dark-haired woman.

The silence of the woods was disturbed by a slithering sound as an old woman wearing long dragging robes carefully walked through fallen leaves toward the young woman lying broken on the ground. "Shh...such anguish for such a young body," she crooned.

The woman who had previously been a bird startled in surprise at the voice. "Who are you? Are you the witch that people say lives around here?"

She nodded. "That I am. But although they are cowards, I know that you are not. And from the look of that animal transformation spell I would say that you also know much about magic."

The younger woman looked down at the ground in shame. "Yes, I do know magic. But not enough magic. That imp was able to defeat me. I want to learn more magic so I can become more powerful."

The old woman fixed her with a beady stare. "Stay with me for a bit. I will heal your body and teach you more magic. You will call me Ursula. And you are?"

"Vanessa. My name is Vanessa."

XXX

Ursula brought Vanessa to her lair to heal. Although Vanessa had heard many rumors about the evil witch during her stay in the Enchanted Forest, she was relieved to find that Ursula treated her with nothing less than kindness. Every day she found herself growing stronger and more determined to know more about magic.

The memories of her most recent encounter with Rumplestiltskin seared through her mind every time she thought of it. Her thirst for power had led to her attempting to marry King Leopold by fooling his naive bride-to-be, Regina. She had told Regina that she had a grandmother who knew magic and then she had given Regina some bogus magical herbs, all so Vanessa could take her place in marrying Leopold. However, the Dark One had put a stop to that. So now every day she spent with Ursula the witch, she tried to learn more about Ursula's powerful dark magic so that the next time she went up against someone like Rumplestiltskin, she would win.

"Where do you think you'll go when you're strong enough to leave here?" Ursula asked her one day.

"I think I will travel to another world called Atlantica. I've been there before, and there's no magic there, so I will easily become the most powerful." Vanessa spoke casually, but she could tell by the way Ursula's eyes lit up that the older witch was interested.

"Atlantica? You know, I've never been anywhere outside of the Enchanted Forest, but I would love to travel."

"You should," Vanessa murmured. "There's so much magic in the Enchanted Forest that you can never get anywhere in life without someone else bringing you down. But Atlantica is full of weak and naive people...(like Regina)," she muttered to herself, "And besides, when I was there I discovered traces of magic which show that magic used to exist there, so I should have no trouble using my power and imposing my will there at all."

"Mmm...very interesting," Ursula said. She attempted in vain to keep the excitement and interest from her voice, but she had nothing to worry about: Vanessa was too caught up in her own thoughts to pay any attention to the older witch. "Tell me how you discovered Atlantica," Ursula commanded.

"It was the first world I traveled to after I...left my homeworld. But I soon left Atlantica to come here to the Enchanted Forest."

"Why did you leave Atlantica?"

"Because there wasn't any existing magic there. And the person who I was searching for went somewhere with magic."

Ursula sat up in surprise. "You were searching for someone? Who were you searching for?"

Vanessa looked appalled that she had let that piece of information slip. "No one! Well, at least I think he's dead now. Whatever he is, I don't care anymore. Now I'm more interested in power, which is why I want to go back to Atlantica. I think I have learned enough magic here in the Enchanted Forest to become a force to be reckoned with in Atlantica."

Ursula smiled. "Now you're speaking my language."

XXX

After a month of healing and learning, Vanessa said goodbye to Ursula and set out on her journey to Atlantica. The previous night, Ursula had taught Vanessa the only transformation spell she knew, which involved trapping the spirit of the intended form. This usually meant killing the person to separate the spirit from the body, which had horrified Vanessa, although she hid it from her mentor. _That's probably why she's called an evil witch,_ Vanessa thought. Besides her ordinary speckled bird form, the weaker human transformation spell that she was accustomed to using needed an article of clothing, such as when she asked for Regina's necklace. Although not as permanent or effective as Ursula's spirit-stealing spell, Vanessa thought that her method sounded easier and safer for both parties.

Once she had walked far away from Ursula's home and was deep in the heart of the Enchanted Forest, Vanessa closed her eyes and stretched out her fingers in front of her. While keenly concentrating, she started searching for the nearest magical fault line. After several seconds of silence, she suddenly felt and heard a faint humming in the air. _Hmm...not too far away._ She opened her eyes and resumed her walk, but this time changed her course slightly. After she had walked half a mile, she again closed her eyes and concentrated. This time she was able to pick up the humming right away. Spreading her fingers, she started examining the air in front of her for the invisible crack in the air which was her doorway to Atlantica. And just as she had been taught, when she found it she stuck her hand and let a sea of images wash over her: of a white castle next to the shore, of its dark-haired prince, of a crater under the sea where a golden castle had once stood. Satisfied that it truly was the doorway to Atlantica and not some other realm, Vanessa then began prying the magical fault line apart so that there was a shimmering gap in the air. When it was big enough, she stepped through it and away from the Enchanted Forest.

**Neverland—Present Day**

"We will go by longboat," the elder native informed them. They were standing in front of a row of cabins on the bank of a river, one of which was where Emma's friends had been tied up. A crowd of people were grouped around them and staring curiously, although Emma noticed that everybody stayed away from Samuel.

"When will we get there?" Mary Margaret asked the elder native. His name was Falkner and he was the leader of the people who lived in the line of cabins.

"We will travel all day, stop to rest at night, and then we will be at the witch's lair before noon tomorrow."

Emma groaned with dismay. What she had originally thought would be a quick jaunt to Neverland to retrieve Henry was quickly turning into an epic adventure.

The natives loaded the longboats with supplies (including many weapons, Emma noticed uneasily) and then they boarded and were off. The longboats easily sliced through the water and assuaged some of the travelers' doubts about the transportation method. Toward midday, the four allies noticed strange plumes of smoke coming from the forest.

"What is that?" David asked Falkner.

Falkner shuddered. "It is the fire of those we don't speak of."

"The Witch?" Regina asked.

He shook his head. "No, we call them the Lost Ones. They are not of this world. In fact, they've been rejected from every world."

"Well, we're not of this world either," Mary Margaret stated.

"But they should not be here. While your purpose is to rescue a child, their purpose is of evil intent."

"Are they pirates?" Emma asked hesitantly.

Falkner looked her squarely in the eye. "They do not belong to the Pirate's Fortress, but they have been known to occasionally commandeer a ship if it suits their purpose, so perhaps they can be called rogue pirates."

Emma thought back to the time on Prince Eric's ship when Hook had told her that he had been a rogue pirate. She wondered if he had been working with the Lost Ones.

"Let go of me! Please!"

Emma whirled around as she heard the plea for help only to watch as someone was thrown overboard. "Who is that? What's going on?" she asked Falkner. Then she saw with horror that the person struggling in the river was Samuel. The river was swiftly sweeping him away from the longboat. "Samuel!" Emma cried with desperation. She ran to the side of the boat and grabbed a coil of rope.

"What do you think you're doing?" Regina sharply asked her.

"Someone has to save him, and I don't see any other volunteers."

"If you jump in, the river will carry you away," Falkner warned.

"That's what the rope is for," Emma said stubbornly. "I made a promise to him that I'm not going to break." She quickly tied one end of the rope around her waist and the other around the railing of the longboat. As she jumped in, she heard Regina's anguished cry of "Noooo!"

Icy water slammed into her and knocked her breath away. She immediately felt the tug of the rope around her waist as the boat pulled her onward. Luckily, the same water that was dragging Emma onwards was also pulling Samuel forward at the same speedy pace. She attempted to swim toward him but was rebuffed by the waves separating them.

"Emma, help me!" Samuel yelled.

Emma's heart lurched in her chest as she heard his cry. With fear inflecting his voice he sounded just like Henry. Her strong legs propelled her closer to him but she was still unable to reach his outstretched hands.

"Emma, the rocks!" Mary Margaret yelled.

With a great effort, Emma craned her neck around to look in the direction they were heading. Sure enough, jagged rocks stuck out of the water next to the shore, and Samuel was headed right at them.

_No! This can't happen._ Emma gave one last determined attempt to rescue the boy while logically knowing that it was hopeless. Unbelievably, at that moment she felt a force launching her toward Samuel, which gave her enough momentum to reach him and wrap her arms around his waist.

"I got him!" Emma shouted.

David, Mary Margaret, and Regina pulled the rope in with the aid of a few of the natives. Emma and Samuel were heaved over the side of the longboat and fell spluttering to the floor.

"Emma, are you all right!?" Both Mary Margaret and David helped her to her feet and then sandwiched her in an embrace.

"Yes yes, I'm fine." She brushed her parents off and then strode angrily over to one of the natives. "What the hell was that about?!" she yelled at him. "What did you throw him in the river for?"

The native, a tall and muscular hunk of a man, glared at Emma. "He is the product of an evil coupling."

"Evil coupling?" Emma asked with confusion.

"His father was a pirate," Falkner the elder leader explained, "While his mother was one of us. She was from this tribe, actually."

"And that's a problem why?" Emma snarkily asked. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Regina was shielding Samuel from the natives by standing in front of him.

"Such bonds are forbidden; they are seen as unnatural."

"But I thought you wanted peace between the pirates and the natives. Isn't that why you so upset when Ruth died?"

Falkner nodded his head in acknowledgement. "I am a forward thinker, but there are many here who hate the pirates and want them driven out. To Ragnar here—" he gestured at the muscular native who had thrown Samuel overboard "—the idea of such a bond is disgusting."

"So he threw him overboard?!"

Falkner bowed his head in apology. "I cannot always control my men."

Seeing that she was nowhere near being finished screaming at the men, Mary Margaret and David grabbed Emma's arms and pulled her over to quietly sit with them. They weren't really feeling up to getting kicked off the longboat.

**Storybrooke—Present Day**

"Some more coffee, Leroy?"

Leroy shook his head and continued to stare moodily out the window of Granny's Diner. Granny shrugged and went to wait on more customers. As mayor, she had decided that the best thing she could do for Storybrooke was to let the town run itself, and so she had resumed care of her diner. When a citizen of Storybrooke came forward with a complaint, she would listen and make a decision, possibly with the aid of a town meeting, but otherwise she was content serving the people pastries and coffee.

Leroy looked sadly out the window at several nuns scurrying through the rain with boxes of belongings and supplies. The Storybrooke nuns were changing locations due to a sudden whim from Mother Superior, and they were now moving all the way across town. This unfortunately meant that Leroy would no longer pass Sister Astrid every day on the street.

The bell on the door chimed, signaling somebody's arrival. "Morning Leroy. Want to help me with something?" It was Belle and she was carrying a backpack.

He grunted. "Not really."

Belle sat down next to him and looked wistfully into his eyes. "Please? It's really important for the sake of the town."

He sighed. "What is it?"

"It's a riddle I need you to help me solve. Once we solve it we can cloak the town from intruders." She pulled the notebook paper with the deciphered spell out of her bag.

Leroy read through it with confusion:

_To forever hide_

_These two must coincide:_

_One needs peace:_

_Five I possess—my first is the shape of a scream_

_My second is hungry and fed by a stream_

_My third and fourth—vowels before the rest_

_And my fifth is the end of a town but the start of a nest_

_Two needs death:_

_Two sounds—one is the first noise of a salutation_

_Then there's a common word for painting and music fun_

_Bring them together _

_And say:_

_Masred rae a twees takisme _

_Lla remasred tusm akawe_

_Ton tihw erast ro a higs_

_Lla ginths eufaultib tusm edi_

"Well, it beats me what this all means. Why are you asking me anyway? Why don't you go ask someone smarter?"

"Because I'm asking _you_, and I believe you can help me."

Granny hustled over with her coffeepot. "Mornin' Belle. Coffee?"

Belle looked up with concern. "Is Ruby still feeling poorly?"

"What do you mean? I thought she was staying with you!" Granny said with alarm.

"Me? She's not with me!"

"What did I tell you," Leroy said placidly, "She's turning into a wolf. She's probably out roaming the streets right now searching for a victim."

The two women glared at him.

"That attitude is not helpful," Granny scolded Leroy.

He shrugged. "It's the way it is. By the way, do you want to help Belle with her important riddle for saving the town?"

"Important riddle for saving the town?" Granny glanced at the riddle. "My, that sounds interesting. Unfortunately I have more customers I have to wait on. But just call me over if there is anything particular you want me to look at." She walked on to the next table.

"I'm outa here," Leroy announced as he stood up.

"Leroy, please stay," Belle pleaded, "There's no one else here that I really know and—oh look! It's Astrid!"

The sister had just walked into the diner.

"Astrid, over here!" Belle called.

Leroy ducked behind the table. "Ah Belle, don't call her over here. We haven't really talked since the curse broke."

"Why, are you shy? Oh look, you're turning red. How cute."

Leroy blushed even more as Astrid made eye contact with him as she made her way over to their table. She nodded at them. "Belle, Leroy."

"Oh Astrid, we were just trying to solve this riddle, and when Leroy saw you come in he told me that you were awfully clever. Could you help us?"

Astrid turned as red as Leroy when she heard the praise. "Well, Mother Superior wanted me to quickly return with her beverage, but" she dropped her voice to a conspiring whisper "She's so busy right now with the move that I doubt she would even notice my absence."

Belle grinned. "Great, then pull up a chair."

She did so and the three bent over the manuscript. Belle noticed that with Astrid there, Leroy made no more attempts at leaving.

"My first is the shape of a scream, my second is hungry and fed by a stream...what does all this mean," Astrid asked as she read.

"It's a magic spell," Belle explained. "Mr. Gold gave it to me so I could cloak the town from intruders."

"Are you supposed to find all these things? A scream and something that's fed by a stream?"

Belle shook her head. "I don't think it is objects we're looking for. It says 'My third and fourth—vowels before the rest,' which makes me think that the riddle is spelling out a word."

"Two words!" Leroy interjected. "And the first word has five letters."

"Why do you say that? Oh, because it says 'two must coincide' and 'five I possess.' Very good Leroy!" Belle said excitedly.

"Yep," Leroy said smugly while glancing at Astrid to see her reaction.

Rather than looking impressed, Astrid was rereading the riddle with a look of horror on her face. "Stop! We can't enact this spell! If we do it'll destroy the town!"

"Why do you say that?" Belle asked her.

"Because it says 'And my fifth is the end of a town.' This will destroy Storybrooke, not protect it!"

"But Astrid, I thought we had agreed that it was just spelling out a word."

"Yeah," Leroy tried to reassure Astrid, "It's not spelling out the destruction of our town. See—the line concludes with 'but the start of a nest,' and the end of town and the start of nest is the letter 'N.'"

"N!" Belle quickly wrote the letter down in her notebook and then drew four horizontal lines in front of it. "If Leroy's right, then we just have four more letters to go for the first word!"

"Are you sure it's safe?" Astrid asked hesitantly.

"I promise. After all, Mr. Gold gave it to me."

"Belle," Leroy hissed into her ear, "I thought you were trying to convince her to help us, not scare her off."

Belle ignored Leroy and said "Let's move on. Now what letter is the shape of a scream?"

"That's easy," Astrid said, "It's the letter 'O.'"

Belle obediently wrote the letter 'O' down. "And what's hungry and fed by a stream? Would that be the sea, or 'C?'"

"Only two letters left for the first word!" Leroy exclaimed as Belle wrote 'C' down. In the excitement of solving the riddle, he had forgotten his customary surliness.

Belle's paper now looked like this: O C _ _ N.

"Now just the two vowels that come before the rest. Let's see, the first two vowels are 'a' and 'e', so that means—"

"It spells ocean!" Astrid squealed. "We did it!"

"We did half of it," Belle corrected. "We still need to figure out what the second word is. There's two sounds, and one is the first noise of a salutation."

"A salutation? Is that like howdy?" Leroy asked with a baffled expression on his face.

Belle and Astrid giggled. "Somehow I doubt that that is what the riddle is referring to. It probably means something like 'hello.'" Belle wrote the letters 'he' down in her notebook underneath O C E A N. "And now a common word for painting and music fun. What would that be?"

"Um, hobby, pastime, entertainment," Astrid listed off.

Belle frowned. Somehow none of those seemed to fit. "Hmm, I don't know. Why don't we ask Granny? She is the mayor, after all."

They called Granny over to their table. "What's another word for art and music?" Belle asked her.

"Hmm...art and music...could that be like classical music?"

Belle looked down at the manuscript in confusion. "Oh, I said it wrong; I meant painting and music.

Leroy stared at Belle in astonishment. "That's it Belle, art!"

"Art?"

"Music and painting are both forms of art! And combine it with 'he' and you get 'heart!'"

"Ocean and heart." Belle looked down at the riddle. "Could that be it? If that's right, then it says that we need to combine them together, and the ocean needs peace, and the heart needs...death."

"But that sounds like sacrifice!" Astrid said with alarm.

"Belle, if you're planning on sacrificing someone then I'm afraid I'm going to have to step in and stop you." Granny informed her before walking away.

But Belle was too busy reading the riddle again with newfound horror to listen to a word Granny said. If what they had deciphered was true, then the cloaking spell that Mr. Gold had given her was more deadly than she had thought.

**Atlantica—In the Past**

"Someone is here to see you, mistress."

The heavy wooden door opened with a loud clang and two people walked into the cell: a guard and a dark haired woman. The woman looked around with some interest. Although the room was large and richly furnished, it was still undoubtedly a cell meant to keep its inhabitant from fleeing.

"Mistress?" the guard said uncertainly.

A shape stirred lethargically on a couch in the corner, and from underneath a pile of blankets appeared a woman with flaming red hair. Vanessa quietly gasped. When she had first met Ariel years ago during her first visit to Atlantica, she had been especially taken with Ariel's hair. And even years later, her beauty had not diminished.

"What does she want?" Ariel asked quietly.

"Err, she says she was sent to get your measurements...for your wedding dress fitting or something."

"Already?" Ariel mumbled, so softly that Vanessa almost missed it.

"I'll just be leaving you now. I'll be back in twenty minutes." The guard walked uncomfortably away.

"I don't really care what my dress looks like or if it fits, so you might as well leave now," Ariel told Vanessa lifelessly.

Vanessa lightly chuckled. "Has it really been so long that you don't recognize me, old friend?"

Ariel quickly sat up. "Could it be? Is it...yes it is! What are you doing back here?!"

"I've come to save you from this marriage."

"Really?"

Vanessa nodded although guilt coiled in her stomach. She hadn't felt any remorse at all about tricking Regina, but Ariel was a different story.

"Oh Vanessa, when you were here so many years ago, you were my only friend and the only one I could trust. I even kept the necklace you gave me as a gift!" She held up from around her neck a necklace with a seashell on the end. "And then, when you unexpectedly left me, I had no one!"

"I'm sorry I left you, Ariel. It's just that I wanted to help you, but I had to learn more magic first. But now that I know a lot of magic, I can help you out of this marriage."

Before Ariel could start crying tears of joy (it looked like she was about to), Vanessa quickly launched into her plan. "So I will disguise myself as you and marry him, and meanwhile you'll be escaping with the aid of a cloaking spell."

Ariel's face fell. "That's it? That's your plan?"

"I've gotten really good at cloaking spells lately!" Vanessa quickly said. And that was true: when she was with Ursula, she had learned a lot more about cloaking spells.

"Well..."

"It's your only chance. Do you want out of this marriage or not?"

"I do want out. But I don't want you marrying him!"

Vanessa waved her hand dismissively. "I'll be all right. Trust me, I've dealt with men before, and it's not like he has any magic."

"No, there's no magic in this world."

Vanessa smirked as she remembered the first time she had met Ariel. She had been so alarmed at the displays of puny magic that Vanessa could do that she had first thought that the brunette was an angel.

"All right, all you have to do so that I can take your form is you need to give me your necklace."

"The one you gave me?"

"That's the one." Rather than presenting Ariel with a bogus potion that needed her hair, Vanessa had decided to directly tell her that the necklace was needed for the transformation.

Ariel looked crestfallen.

"Please, Ariel? I'm doing you a big favor."

"Well, all right, it is just a necklace after all, and Eric's given me plenty of them." She unclasped the necklace and handed it to Vanessa.

Vanessa slipped it around her neck. "I estimate that half of our twenty minutes are gone, so we're going to have to be quick." She closed her eyes and concentrated, and suddenly Ariel was looking at her mirror image. "And now for the cloaking spell..._ Ton tihw erast ro a higs,_

_Lla ginths eufaultib tusm edi_."

Ariel looked down at her arms, and saw to her surprise that they had disappeared. "You really have gotten better at magic."

"Yes, and that cloaking spell will actually work, too. Unlike the one I put on Regina."

"Who?"

"Never mind. I'm just happy that I'm only cloaking you. If I was cloaking an entire city, the amount of magic needed would demand a sacrifice."

Ariel looked at her as if she wasn't sure if she was being serious or not. "I don't think I want to know what you're talking about. Anyway, what do we do now?"

"When the guard comes back, I'll tell him that he must not have locked the door securely when he left because you finished with the measurements early. And when he's standing there looking confused, you will sneak past him and out of the castle."

Ariel looked excited. "That sounds good. I can't wait to put this plan into action!"

**Neverland—Present Day**

Regina watched as the sun slowly set below the horizon and the moon made its obligatory appearance. She was fascinated by the moon in Neverland—it seemed to be at its brightest early in the evening, and then slowly grew duller and duller until it was replaced by the sun in the morning. In a way, the phenomenon plucked at her romantic side—she imagined that the moon was a woman clad in silver gowns and that the surrounding darkness was slowly suffocating and killing her throughout the night. And then, just as she was about to die, a hero in golden armor leaped into the sky and breathed light into her so that she might rise again another night.

"Because the sun doesn't need any help to shine, it can do so on its own. But the moon needs assistance..."

"You're doing it again."

Regina looked at Samuel in annoyance. "Doing exactly what again?"

"You know, looking dreamily up at the sky and talking to yourself."

Regina looked at Samuel as if she wasn't sure what to think about him. In a way, his tendency to make petty and irritating remarks reminded her slightly of Henry. This was further cemented by the fact that he only made the remarks to her; never to Emma, Mary Margaret, or David.

"Well, as I'm letting you sit here with me and not with the natives who want to kill you, I would think that you would graciously refrain from being so annoying." Regina told him icily.

He sighed and said dramatically "Oh great sun, please save me before I vanish completely, for I am the moon!"

"What's this about the moon?" Emma suddenly asked. She had been sitting on the other side of Samuel, lost in her own thoughts, but their sudden thread of discussion caught her interest.

"Regina's comparing herself to the moon—she must be having an identity crisis!" Samuel quickly shot out.

"I am not!" Regina cut in. "I was simply remarking on how every evening the moon has started out being extremely bright, and then throughout the night it slowly grows dimmer."

Emma's face scrunched up in thought. "Hmm, kinda the opposite of what's happening in Fin. The moon's getting brighter and brighter there."

Regina looked at Emma with curiosity. "You never did tell us what happened there."

"Henry wasn't there, so I left."

Regina sighed with exasperation. "Well, as we're currently looking for him here, I had already gathered that."

Emma shrugged. "Well, there's not much to tell. I never did find Samuel's mother either."

He looked at Emma with anxious eyes. "You're going to try again, aren't you? You just have to find her!"

Emma just shrugged again, but she privately doubted that she would ever have a chance to save Samuel's mother. By the time they arrived at the witch's lair and rescued Henry, there wouldn't be enough time to go back to Fin and rescue her before the moon struck the town.

"Outpost ahead!" a native bellowed.

The longboat started angling toward the side of the river, and Emma saw that there was a large wooden cabin there. "Is this where we're spending the night?" she called over to Falkner.

He nodded and said "Early in the morning we will leave, and if everything goes right we should be at the Witch' lair before noon."

They dropped the anchor next to the shore, and Emma and her companions followed Falkner off of the boat and up to the cabin. He knocked heavily on the door, and after a minute it was opened by Graham.

**Atlantica—In the Past**

"I just can't figure out what happened to you!"

Vanessa (who looked like Ariel) laughed flirtingly and leaned in to kiss Prince Eric on the cheek. "How many times do I have to tell you? When I was locked up in that room, I finally realized that had been behaving childishly, and that if I really wanted to do what was best for my people, I would marry you."

Vanessa had been living disguised as Ariel for the past week. The guards had been extremely hesitant to let her out of the room the first day when she had pleaded that she had changed, but her insistent appeals finally wore them down. Once she was free, she simply located Prince Eric and told him that she wanted to marry him as soon as possible. He hadn't believed her at first, but finally even he gave in to Vanessa's loving embraces and caresses.

"Oh, Eric darling, what are we going to do today?"

He looked at her dreamily. "I was thinking that we could go on a picnic by the sea. It'll be lovely!"

Vanessa forced herself to smile and nod. _This is stupid. How many picnics do I have to go on before I can just marry him and become the princess? _"Ooh, that does sound lovely! I'll go pack some things." She slipped away from him and into her bedroom. Reaching under her bed, she pulled out a small metal tin. Inside the tin was an herb she had brought with her from the Enchanted Forest that would magically restore her strength. This was needed because wearing the necklace and sustaining the Ariel illusion quickly sapped her magical strength.

She opened the tin and stared with frustration at the amount of content. It was running low, and she soon would need to take a secret trip to the Enchanted Forest to stock up on more. In order to preserve her strength and the herb, she took the necklace off and changed back into Vanessa. She didn't need the transformation when she was alone. Then she stood up, placed the metal tin in a leather satchel, and walked over to a basin full of water to wash her face.

"I knew you were a different woman!"

Vanessa screamed and knocked the basin to the ground. It broke and sharp shards scattered over the floor. She ran over to the necklace and put it back on.

"No! Don't!" Eric ran over to her and lifted the necklace back off of her. "I love you!"

Vanessa stared at him like she thought he was crazy. "You love me?! You don't even know who I am!"

"Yes I do. I've spent a whole week with you, and it's been a dream come true."

"But, during the week you thought I was Ariel?" Vanessa started backing away from him, and in the process cut her foot on the glass shard.

"Oh, darling, you're hurt. Don't move. Let me carry you to the bed."

_This is unreal_, Vanessa thought as he gathered her in his arms and picked her up. Not only was Prince Eric not bothered that she was a stranger disguised as Ariel, but he seemed to be treating her even kinder than usual.

"You don't know what it's like being betrothed to a woman who doesn't want you." He looked at her with pleading eyes. "I had to spend my entire life suffering because of the knowledge that I would eventually be trapped in a loveless marriage when all I desire in life is True Love. And then, suddenly, the woman who loathed me suddenly started to act as if she loved me. No, don't speak! Let me finish!" he said to Vanessa, cutting her off. "I don't care who you really are or where you come from. Just know that over the past week I have fallen in love with you and I'm willing to spend the rest of my life with you. You will be my queen, and perhaps eventually, when the time is right, we will reveal your true identity to the country."

Vanessa continued to stare at him completely flabbergasted. He seemed to be speaking desperate words of madness to her. But still, if he wanted her to be his queen...

"Very well, I accept," she said to him with a smile.

**Neverland—Present Day**

** "**This is so boring! There's nothing to do here. There's not even a TV!"

Tamara just about lost it that time. She had been sitting around in Neverland (a magical realm, of all things!) for far longer than she had planned and Henry's annoying and persistant comments were starting to give her murderous thoughts. She slowly picked up a knife.

"No! You can't do that!" Greg hastily whispered to her. He glanced around the room to make sure that Wendy was nowhere nearby to have witnessed the scene.

"I was just going to threaten him," she muttered darkly.

A few months earlier, Tamara and Greg had been doing their normal job of killing vampires in Sunnydale when their boss, Wendy, asked them to take a special mission for her. Both had been honored to have been approached by Wendy. After all, her female ancestors (all named Wendy) had always been the leaders of the magic-exterminating club, and only very special people got to actually meet the current Wendy.

She had told them of a town in Maine called Storybrooke where magic ran free.

"Do you want us to nuke it?!" Tamara had asked with much excitement in her voice.

Wendy had told her that that wasn't necessary. Instead, Greg would first go as a spy. He was to be on the lookout for a young boy of about 10 or 11 years of age. Later, Tamara would join him and help him kidnap said boy. They were chosen because both had connections to Storybrooke—for Greg, his father had disappeared there, and for Tamara, her 'fiancé' had relatives there (although he didn't know it). Wendy told them that kidnapping Henry was vital to her plan of ultimately destroying magic.

Tamara and Greg went along with this without any questions. But then came the weird part: Wendy instructed them to bring Henry not back to headquarters, but instead to a certain location in Neverland where she would be waiting. They did all this, but instead of being rewarded and released from the mission, Wendy was now making them stay on as baby-sitters for Henry while she waited for some kind of signal.

"You know," Henry said to Greg, "I once watched this movie called 'Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.' I wasn't supposed to be watching it, but I watched it anyway. Anyway, Hansel and Gretel were all grown up, and they hunted down witches like Wendy and killed them."

"She not a witch," Greg said while gritting his teeth.

"Yes she is! She just doesn't want you to know that. Anyway, my mom got angry when she found out I had watched the movie. She pretended she was angry because of the naked scene, but I know why she was really angry: it was because she can do magic like a witch."

Tamara rolled her eyes. "Just shut him up already."

"I wasn't supposed to know that she could do magic, but it said so in my storybook," Henry continued. "But it's okay now, because now she's choosing to use her magic for good."

Greg jumped up. "You know, I think I hear Wendy approaching, and you are supposed to be in bed now." He grabbed Henry and started pulling him into a different room.

"She chose good," Henry told Greg firmly as he was being manhandled. "What will Wendy-witch choose? When the time comes, what will you and Tamara choose?"

Greg ignored him, left the room, and locked the door behind him. "Soon he'll be gone," he reassured Tamara, "And then we can leave this place."

Outside the lair, a woman adjusted her seashell necklace and then swallowed an infusion of strength-giving herbs before entering the hideout. Maintaining full-body transformations such as Wendy's form for long periods of time always had sapped her strength.

**Neverland—Present Day**

Both Emma and Regina gasped in unison at coming face to face with the man they once had feelings for (albeit twisted feelings in Regina's case). Then Emma realized it wasn't Graham, just someone who looked very similar to him. For one thing, this new man was tanner and slightly taller than the Storybrooke sheriff had been.

"Who...who are you?" Regina asked throatily.

"This is Geoffrey," Falkner introduced them while giving Emma and Regina weird looks. "He is one of the caretakers of the outpost." A beautiful young woman draped in what looked like a tiger skin then joined them at the door. "And this is Lily. She also helps run the place."

"Good evening, Falkner. What brings you to this desolate stretch of the woods?" She fluttered her eyes prettily.

Falkner lowered his voice. "We're running a rescue mission. The Witch has captured their boy."

Lily looked at him with concern. "But won't the Witch be angry if you disturb her."

"For far too long we have lived in fear of her. Now is the time to show her that she does not control us." He walked past the pair and into the cabin with Emma and friends following. They were in a large entryway. Emma stood aimlessly around while Falkner busied himself with giving his men directions about the upcoming day. While she was waiting for further directions from Falkner, Lily approached Emma.

"You don't look like you're from around here," Lily said while twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

"Um, no we're not," Emma said dumbly. She had suddenly noticed that Lily's eyes were the unusual color of violet.

"You must have come from really far away." Lily stepped closer to Emma, which happened to give her the opportunity to look over Lily's shoulder. She saw that in a far corner of the entryway, Geoffrey, the man who greatly resembled Graham, had similarly engaged Regina in conversation.

"You look like you need a nice rest," Lily whispered into Emma's ears.

"Umm..." Emma murmured. She watched as Geoffrey said something that made Regina laugh, and then saw him brush a strand of hair away from Regina's eyes. The scene unfolding before her eyes, coupled with the sensation of Lily's breath on Emma's neck, was making her body feel odd.

"I think you should go lie down now. I'll take care of you."

"Um no thank you, I'll go by myself!" Emma shouted much louder than she meant to. She broke away from Lily and ran to the center of the room, all while staring at Regina. Emma's shout had interrupted Regina's and Geoffrey's conversation, and Regina was staring back at Emma with a mixture of alarm and confusion on her face. With unexpected humiliation in her stomach, Emma turned around and ran into a room behind the entryway. Mary Margaret and David were sitting in the room.

"Emma, there you are!" David said excitedly, "We were just saying—"

"Emma, what's wrong?!" Mary Margaret interrupted. Concern was evident upon her face.

"Nothing is wrong!" Emma snapped. "I'm just tired. I need to go to sleep. Where can I find a room where I can be alone?!"

Mary Margaret and David both looked at her in bewilderment. "Well, Falkner told me that there were rooms for us down that hallway. I'm sure you can find one that suits you." Mary Margaret pointed down a hallway. "Really, is there something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine, thanks." Emma ran down the hallway and stopped at the door on the very end. It was unlocked, so she stumbled in and sat on the bed. _Why do I feel this way? _Emma wondered. Her stomach was twisting and making her feel physically ill while her mind just felt dazed. After thinking the matter through several times, Emma decided that her body had had an allergic reaction to Lily's perfume while her mind and heart had been jealous that Geoffrey had talked to Regina and not herself. _Yeah, that's it._ She started feeling better about the situation, so she crawled under the blankets and prepared to go to sleep.

After several minutes, she heard the sound of voices in the room next to her. It sounded like the voices of Regina and Geoffrey. Although she tried not to listen in, the thin walls thwarted that objective.

"You are so beautiful. I just love looking at you."

"Don't just look at me; hold me. It's been so long."

Emma quickly grabbed a pillow and held it over her head. Her mind was racing. She and Regina had never discussed their marriage because there had not yet been an opportunity, and Emma had assumed that although restrained by their magical bond, when the time came they both would find someone different to love. But Emma couldn't believe that Regina was breaking the vow of monogamy so soon without asking for Emma's permission or caring about appearances. She forced herself to think about Neal and how Henry wanted them to have a castle together, and then she thought about Lily and how willing she had been, but both times, her mind wandered back to Regina.

Suddenly, a sharp knock on the door startled Emma out of her misery. She looked up from underneath the pillow and was shocked to see Regina standing in the doorway.

"Already in bed, Miss Swan?"

"Argh...what are you doing here?!" Emma attempted to leap out of bed only to get her foot caught in the sheets which made her clumsily fall to the floor.

"Have you already forgotten that we are married? There aren't enough rooms in this cabin for us to have different rooms."

"But what about..." Emma gestured to the wall, from which gasps of pleasure were now emitting.

"What about what?"

Emma smiled as she realized that she had misplaced the voices. "Oh, nothing. I'm just overtired." She would later have a difficult time rationalizing to herself the tremendous feeling of relief that flooded her body at that very moment.

Regina smirked. "Because of all your clumsy behavior, I think everyone here has noticed that you're overtired.

Emma scooted over to make room for her in the bed and then laughed. _Wait a minute, what am I laughing at? She just insulted me. _But Emma was feeling too unusually buoyant to really care. After a few minutes, she said "Regina, on the longboat today when I jumped in after Samuel, why did you scream 'No?'"

Regina stayed silent for several seconds after Emma asked the question, making Emma think that she was asleep. But when she finally answered, she said "Because I thought you were going to die out there. And I was afraid that if you died, I might never see Henry again."

"Oh." Emma thought this over before saying "And when I was in the water, I felt a force propelling me toward Samuel, a force that felt like magic. Was that you?"

Regina looked sad. "My magic hasn't been able to work like usual here in Neverland."

"But it felt like you!" Upon seeing Regina's raised eyebrows, Emma clarified with "I mean, it felt like it was your magic, and now that Mr. Gold's gone, there's no one else here who can do magic, unless one of the natives can."

"I thought you told me that you can do magic."

"Sometimes, but I can't really control it." Emma looked at Regina with a fire burning in her eyes. "What if in our desperation, our magic combined so I could save Samuel."

Regina suddenly started to look annoyed. "I don't have time for this kind of discussion. Good night."

"But it's possible, isn't it? Since we're magically bonded?"

"Good night, Miss Swan, and what is that annoying sound coming from the room next door?"

Emma muffled her laugh in her pillow.

* * *

Author's note: Congratulations to the reviewer who figured out half the riddle—you are smarter than half the citizens of Storybrooke (can you imagine David trying to figure it out by himself?). Also, this chapter and the next will be kind of like one long chapter split into two.


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